Ordering of droplets and light scattering in polymer dispersed liquid crystal films

Abstract

We study the effects of droplet ordering in initial optical transmittance through polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films prepared in the presence of an electrical field. The experimental data are interpreted by using a theoretical approach to light scattering in PDLC films that explicitly relates optical transmittance and the order parameters characterizing both the orientational structures inside bipolar droplets and orientational distribution of the droplets. The theory relies on the Rayleigh-Gans approximation and uses the Percus-Yevick approximation to take into account the effects due to droplet positional correlations.