Electro-Optical Properties of Nematic Liquid Crystal Cells in the Infrared Wavelength Region

摘要

We study the electro-optical properties of the nematic liquid crystal (LC) cells such as a homogenously aligned nematic LC cell and twisted nematic (TN) LC cell fabricated with polished silicon wafers in a far-infrared wavelength region. The birefringence of the nematic LC material at the wavelength of about 10 μm is estimated by applying a voltage to the homogenously aligned LC cell under crossed infrared-wire-grid polarizers. The application of the TN LC cell into an optical shutter in the far-infrared region for electrically controlling the transmitted light intensity is demonstrated and discussed.