MULTIPLE-SCATTERING OF LIGHT FROM POLYMER-DISPERSED LIQUID-CRYSTAL MATERIAL

Light scattering from polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) material has been studied experimentally and by Monte Carlo simulation. Light scattering was measured as a function of both scattering angle and cel l thickness. The cell thicknesses of practical interest are in an inte rmediate regime where neither single scattering nor light diffusion ap plies. Both the angular and the thickness dependence of the scattering intensity can be described accurately by a Monte Carlo simulation of multiple scattering from a homogeneous distribution of independent sca tterers. The model smoothly interpolates between the single scattering limit for thin cells and the diffusion limit for thick cells. It can easily be extended to include any specific feature of a scattering dis play system.