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Coherent backscattering of light in nematic liquid crystals

  • Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
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Abstract

Multiple light scattering by director fluctuations in nematic liquid crystals is considered. A uniform director orientation is assumed to be specified by an applied magnetic field. The coherent backscattering effect, which consists in the presence of a sharp light backscattering peak, is studied. The Bethe-Salpeter equation is used to calculate the multiple scattering intensity taking into account the contributions of ladder and cyclic diagrams. An analytical expression for the angular and polarization dependences of the coherent backscattering intensity is obtained in terms of the diffusion approximation. The calculation and experimental results are compared. The developed theory is shown to qualitatively describe the elliptical shape of the backscattering cone, to explain the absence of a coherent contribution for crossed polarizations, and to calculate the relative peak height.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, St. Petersburg, 198504, Russia

    E. V. Aksenova & V. P. Romanov

  2. St. Petersburg Institute of Trade and Economics, ul. Novorossiĭskaya 50, St. Petersburg, 194021, Russia

    V. L. Kuz’min

Authors
  1. E. V. Aksenova
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  2. V. L. Kuz’min
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  3. V. P. Romanov
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Correspondence to E. V. Aksenova.

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Original Russian Text © E.V. Aksenova, V.L. Kuz’min, V.P. Romanov, 2009, published in Zhurnal Éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2009, Vol. 135, No. 3, pp. 587–607.

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Aksenova, E.V., Kuz’min, V.L. & Romanov, V.P. Coherent backscattering of light in nematic liquid crystals. J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 108, 516–534 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776109030157

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776109030157

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