A Fourier-transform-based interferometric technique for measuring the elastic anisotropy of a nematic liquid crystal

Abstract

We propose a method based on an interferometric technique to measure the molecular distortion induced by an incident light beam on a nematic liquid crystal film. An analysis of the fringe pattern generated by means of a Fourier transform method allows comparison of the measurements with the theoretical molecular distribution. From this analysis an estimation of the elastic anisotropy of the liquid crystal is derived which is in good agreement with previous results.