MAGNETOELASTIC DEFORMATIONS OF NEMATIC LIQUID-CRYSTALS AND PROBLEMS OF VISUALIZING AND IMAGING INFORMATION CONCERNING INHOMOGENEOUS MAGNETIC-FIELDS

This paper discusses how two-dimensional inhomogeneous magnetic fields H(x,y) affect the orientational field I(x,y) of a nematic liquid crys tal (LC), the birefringence, and the intensity distribution (along the LC layer) of polarized light transmitted through (reflected from) the layer. A solution is given of the problem of imaging information conc erning the magnetic field by means of an orientation field when vector H and director 1 are parallel or orthogonal to each other at the boun dary. The conditions under which the imaging is most informative are f ound; i.e., the imaging allows the characteristics of the magnetic fie ld to be measured from the intensity distribution of polarized light a long the LC layer. (C) 1998 The Optical Society of America.