Light wave propagation in liquid crystal displays by the 2-D finite-difference time-domain method

Light wave propagation within liquid crystal (LC) devices is studied using a two-dimensional (2-D) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. Comput ational space termination is provided by a combination of the perfectly mat ched layer absorbing boundary condition and periodic boundary conditions, t o overcome the limitations imposed by previously proposed FDTD methods for LC optics. Both normal and oblique incidence cases an successfully implemen ted and a consistent method for magnitude and phase extraction is made avai lable. This provides a rigorous numerical solution for the light wave propa gating within LC devices, and a sample application for a small twisted nema tic pixel is given. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.