Electrically controlled switching of light beams in the plane of liquid crystal layer

A simple experimental method and a set-up to control light beams in the plane of liquid crystal (LC) cell is developed. The main idea of the method is the reflection and the refraction of light beams propagating in a plane of LC layer from the boundary, which separates the regions of a liquid crystal cell with different director orientations and refractive indices. This boundary can be produced by electric field applied to the LC layer with a planar homogeneous orientation. The disclination lines that separate the extremely sharp changes of LC orientation can be also used for this purpose. The possibility of discrete deflection of light beam from the initial direction is shown. A computer simulation confirmed that the proposed experimental geometry was most suitable to control intensity of extraordinary rays propagating in the plane of liquid crystal layer. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.