Optics of Liquid Crystal DisplaysWILEY SERIES IN PURE AND APPLIED OPTICS Founded by Stanley S. Ballard, University of Florida EDITOR: Joseph W. 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New York / Chichester / Weinheim / Brisbane / Singapore / TorontoThis book is printed on acid-free paper. @ Copyright © 1999 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Published simultaneously in Canada. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (508) 750-8400, fax (508) 750-4744, Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, (212) 850-6011, fax (212) 850-6008, E-Mail: [email protected]. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Yeh, Pochi, 1948- Optics of liquid crystal displays / Pochi Yeh, Claire Gu. p. cm, — (Wiley series in pure and applied optics) Includes index. ISBN 0-471-18201-X (alk. paper) I. Liquid crystal displays. 2. Liquid crystals—Optical properties. I. Gu, Claire. IL. Series. TK7872.L56Y44 1999 621.3815/422—de21 98-53672 Printed in the United States of America 10987654321Contents Preface Chapter 1. Ll. 1.2. Preliminaries Basic LCD Components 1.1.1. Polarizers 1.1.2. Transparent Electrodes 1.1.3. Liquid Crystal Cell Properties of Liquid Crystals 1.2.1. Orientational Order Parameter 1.2.2. Dielectric Constants 1.2.3. Refractive Index 1.2.4. Elastic Constants 1.2.5. Viscosity—Rotational Viscosity 1.2.6. Surface Alignment and Rubbing Chapter 2. Polarization of Optical Waves 2.1. 2.2. 2.3. 2.4. 2.5. Monochromatic Plane Waves and Their Polarization States 2.1.1. Linear Polarization States 2.1.2. Circular Polarization States 2.1.3. Elliptic Polarization States Complex-Number Representation Jones Vector Representation Partially Polarized and Unpolarized Light Poincaré Sphere 2.5.1. Pancharatnam Phase Chapter 3. Electromagnetic Propagation in Anisotropic Media 3.1. 3.2. Maxwell Equations and Dielectric Tensor Plane Waves in Homogeneous Media and Normal Surface 3.2.1. k in the xy Plane 3.2.2. k in the yz Plane xi 22 22 24 25 26 29 30 34 36 46 46 48 55vi 3.3. 3.4. 3.5. 3.6. 3.7. CONTENTS 3.2.3. k in the zx Plane 3.2.4. Classification of Media 3.2.5. Power Flow in Anisotropic Media Light Propagation in Uniaxial Media 3.3.1. Propagation Perpendicular to the c Axis 3.3.2. Propagation in the xz Plane 3.3.3. Propagation along the c Axis Double Refraction at a Boundary Anisotropic Absorption and Polarizers 3.5.1. Extinction Ratio and Real Sheet Polarizers 3.5.2. Field of View of Crossed Polarizers Optical Activity and Faraday Rotation 3.6.1. Faraday Rotation Light Propagation in Biaxial Media 3.7.1. Method of Index Ellipsoid 3.7.2. Perturbation Approach Chapter 4. Jones Matrix Method 4.1. 4.2. 4.3. 4.4. 4.5. 4.6. Jones Matrix Formulation 4.1.1. Half-Wave Retardation Plate and Quarter-Wave Plate 4.1.2. General Properties of Jones Matrix Intensity Transmission Spectrum Optical Properties of a Twisted Nematic Liquid Crystal (TN-LC) 4.3.1. Adiabatic Following (Waveguiding in TN-LC) 4.3.2. 90° Twisted Nematic Liquid Crystal 4.3.3. Transmission Properties of a General TN-LCD 4.3.4. Normal Modes of Propagation in a General TN-LC Phase Retardation at Oblique Incidence Conoscopy 4.5.1. a Plate of Uniaxial Crystals 4.5.2. c Plate of Uniaxial Crystals 4.5.3. c¢ Cut Biaxial Plate Reflection Property of a General TN-LCD with a Rear Mirror 4.6.1. Normally Black Reflection (NBR) Operation 4.6.2. Normally White Reflection (NWR) Operation 56 56 s7 63 65 67 68 68 70 71 72 75 85 87 90 94 103 103 107 110 115 119 122 123 127 130 136 138 139 140 143 144 148 150CONTENTS vii Chapter 5. Liquid Crystal Displays 161 5.1. Twisted Nematic (TN) Displays 161 5.1.1. Principle of Operation 161 5.1.2. Transmission Properties of Field-oFF State 163 5.1.3. Transmission Properties of Field-on State 168 5.2. Supertwisted Nematic (STN) Displays 194 5.2.1. Steepness of Electrooptical Distortion Curves of STN Cells 194 5.2.2. Transmission Properties of STN-LCD in the Field-orF State 198 5.2.3. Transmission Properties of STN-LCD in the Field-on State 206 5.3. Nematic Liquid Crystal Display (N-LCD) Modes 213 5.3.1. Parallel Aligned (PA) Cells 213 5.3.2. Vertically Aligned (VA) Cells 222 5.3.3. Bend-Aligned (BA) Cells 224 5.4. Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal Displays (PD-LCDs) 228 5.5. Reflective LCDs 233 5.5.1. Reflection Properties at Normal Incidence 234 5.5.2. Reflection Properties at Oblique Incidence 234 5.6. Projection Displays 237 5.7. Other Display Systems 239 5.7.1. Ferroelectric LCD 239 5.7.2. Cholesteric LCD 242 5.8. Summary 243 Chapter 6. Matrix Addressing, Colors, and Properties of LCDs 248 6.1. Multiplexed Displays 248 6.2. Active-Matrix Displays 252 6.2.1. Principle of TFT Operation 252 6.2.2. Array Fabrication 261 6.2.3. Cell Assembly 267 6.3. Optical Throughput of TFT-LCDs 268 6.3.1. Polarizers 268 6.3.2. Color Filters 270 6.4. Colors in LCDs 272 6.4.1. Addition (or Mixing) of Colors and CIE 1976 Color Space (L*u*v*) 277viii Chapter 7. Optical Properties of Cholesteric LCs (CLCs) TA. 7.2. 7.3. 7A, 7.5. 7.6. Optical Phenomena in CLCs Dielectric Tensor of an Ideal CLC Exact Solutions at Normal Incidence 7.3.1. Dispersion Relation 7.3.2. Polarization States of Normal Modes 7.3.3. Power Orthogonality Bragg Regime (nop < 4 < n.p)—Coupled Mode Analysis 7.4.1. Reflectance of CLCs Mauguin Regime (4 < 0.5pAn) Circular Regime 7.6.1. Short Wavelength Circular Regime (0.5npAn <2 « p) 7.6.2. Long Wavelength Circular Regime (np < i) Chapter 8. Extended Jones Matrix Method 8.1. 8.2. 8.3. Mathematical Formulation and Applications 8.1.1. Reflection and Refraction at the Interface 8.1.2. Matrix Formulation 8.1.3. Small Birefringence Approximation 8.1.4. Comparison with the Conventional Jones Calculus 8.1.5. Crossed Polarizers 8.1.6. Arbitrary c Axis Orientation 8.1.7. Application to Liquid Crystal Displays 8.1.8. Generalized Jones Matrix Method Another Extended Jones Matrix Method 4x 4 Matrix Formulation 8.3.1. Mathematical Formulation 8 Reflection and Transmission 8.3.3. Berreman’s 4 x 4 Matrix Method Chapter 9. Optical Compensators for LCDs 9.1. 9.2. 9.3. Viewing Angle Characteristics of LCDs Negative c Plate Compensators Compensation Film with Positive Birefringence (o Plate) CONTENTS 282 282 283 285 287 288 292 292 296 299 300 300 301 306 307 307 314 316 322 324 326 330 339 344 347 347 352 353 357 358 364 370CONTENTS 9.4. Biaxial Compensation Film 9.5. Materials for Optical Phase Retardation Compensation 9.5.1. Plate Types 9.5.2. Form Birefringence Appendix A. Elastic and Electromagnetic Energy Density Appendix B. Electrooptical Distortion—Tilt Mode Appendix C. Electrooptical Distortion—Twist Mode Appendix D. Electrooptical Distortion in TN-LC Appendix E. Electrooptical Distortion in STN-LC Appendix F. Form Birefringence of Composite Media Author Index Subject Index 375 380 380 380 390 395 400 404 413 420 423 427Preface This book introduces the basic principles and presents a systematic and self- contained treatment of the optics of liquid crystal displays (LCDs). It also describes the practical operation of various liquid crystal display systems. The book is intended as a textbook for students in electrical engineering and applied physics, as well as a reference book for engineers and scientists in the area of research and development of display technologies. It has two primary objectives: to present a clear physical picture of the fundamental principles of LCDs and to teach the reader how to analyze and design new components and subsystems for LCDs. The choice of the subject matter and the organization of the book follow closely a course on optics of LCDs that Pochi Yeh taught at the National Chiao Tung University in Hsinchu, Taiwan and at the University of California at Santa Barbara during the past 3 years. The subject of liquid crystal displays has now grown to become an exciting interdisciplinary field of research and development, involving optics, materials, and electronics. New materials, device configurations, and processing technologies are being developed rapidly. To meet the rapid development of this display technology, this book emphasizes the fundamental principles that can be employed for understanding the limitation of various LCD systems, and to analyze and design high performance display systems. A significant effort is made to bridge the gap between theory and practice through the use of numerical examples based on real liquid crystal materials and information display systems. The book covers a very wide range of topics, including the basic physical properties of liquid crystals, the polarization of optical waves, the propagation of plane waves in liquid crystal media, the concept of phase retardation, Jones matrix method, operations of various LCD systems, passive and active matrix addressing, colors, and birefringence compensators. Near the end of the book, an advanced analytic technique known as the extended Jones matrix method is introduced to treat the optical transmission of LCDs at large viewing angles. In writing this book, we have assumed that the student has been introduced to basic electromagnetic plane waves in an undergraduate course in electricity and magnetism. It is further expected that the student has some background in elementary optics and linear matrix algebra. The authors are grateful to Ragini Saxena, S. T. Wu, Don Taber, John Eblen, Zhiming Zhuang, Zili Li, Len Hale, W. Gunning, M. Khoshnevisan, Fang Luo, Hiap Ong, and K. H. Yang for helpful technical discussions, and to Miao Yang for the help in compiling the liquid crystal data. The authors also wish to thank their colleagues and students at National Chiao Tung University and the University of California for helpful remarks and discussions. Special thanks are xixii PREFACE, given to the K. T. Li and K. Y. Jin Foundation of Taiwan for their sponsorship and to Professors Sien Chi and Ken Y. Hsu who provided the opportunity for teaching such a course during the summer of 1995 and 1997 at the Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering in Hsinchu, Taiwan. The authors also wish to thank Michele Brown and Florina Carvalho for their help in preparing the references. Their thanks are also extended to S. H. Lin and M. L. Hsieh for grading the homework problems and commenting on the manuscript. Santa Barbara, California Pocut YEH Santa Cruz, California CLarRE Gu May 1999Optics of Liquid Crystal Displays| Preliminaries In an information-dominated age, the display of information is becoming increasingly essential in many aspects of daily life. This requires display systems utilizing cathode ray tubes (CRTs), electroluminescence devices, plasma display devices, field emission devices, flat CRT, vacuum fluorescence and liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Among these systems, the LCD is one of the most important optical display systems for high performance flat panel display of information. The importance arises from many of its advantages, including fiat panel, light weight, high definition, low driving voltages, and low power consumption. Generally speaking, a display panel consists of a two-dimensional array of pixels. Each pixel can be turned ON or OFF independently for the display of two- dimensional images. Figure 1.1 shows a schematic drawing of a basic element (pixel; picture element) of a LCD panel. Referring to the figure, we note that the basic components of a LCD consist of a thin layer of liquid crystal sandwiched between a pair of polarizers. To control the optical transmission of the display element electronically, the liquid crystal layer is placed between transparent electrodes [e.g., indium tin oxide (ITO)]. The polarizers and the electrodes are cemented on the surfaces of the glass plates. A minimum thickness of a few millimeters is needed to maintain the structural integrity of the panel. The thickness of the liquid crystal layer is kept uniform by using spacers that are made of glass fibers or plastic microspheres. By applying a voltage across the electrodes, an electric field inside the liquid crystal can be obtained to control the transmission of light through the liquid crystal cell. To achieve the display of information, we need a two-dimensional array of these electrodes. These electrodes can be driven electrically for data input by using two sets (x,y) of parallel array of electrodes. In what follows, we will briefly describe each of the optical components. 1.1. BASIC LCD COMPONENTS 1.1.1. Polarizers An optical arrangement that produces a beam of polarized light from a beam of unpolarized light is called a polarizer. Polarizers are key components in many LCDs. Virtually all light sources used in optical displays are unpolarized. A beam of polarized light is described by its direction of propagation, frequency, 12 PRELIMINARIES Transmission of Light 4 Polarizer Transparent Electrode Liquid Crystal Transparent Electrode (TFT) Polarizer Figure 1.1. Schematic drawing of a basic element of liquid crystal display. and a vector amplitude (electric field vector). The vector amplitude is related to the intensity of the beam and is perpendicular to the direction of propagation. Given a direction of propagation, there are two independent (orthogonal) components of the vector amplitude. A beam of light is regarded as unpolarized provided two conditions are met: (1) the time-averaged intensity of the transmitted beam through a polarizer is independent of the orientation of the polarizer and (2) any two orthogonal components of the vector amplitude are totally uncorrelated. Thus, if we decompose the vector amplitude of a beam of unpolarized light into two mutually orthogonal transverse components (¢.g., Ex, Ey for light propagating along z axis). These two components will have a random relative phase relationship between them. The random relative phase leads to a resultant amplitude vector that varies rapidly in time in a random manner. Polarizers consist of anisotropic media that transmit one component and redirect or absorb the other component. It is known that anisotropic crystal prisms provide methods of obtaining plane polarized light by double refraction where one of the components can be removed by reflection or mechanical obstruction. Although prism polarizers can provide excellent extinction ratios, they are not suitable for flat panel applications. In most LCDs, the polarizers consist of thin sheets of materials that transmit one polarization component and absorb the other component. This effect is known as dichroism. Natural dichroism of a material is, like natural birefringence, due to its anisotropic molecular structure. The ratio of the two absorption coefficients for two linear orthogonal polarizations is called the dichroic ratio. One of the best known materials of this kind is tourmaline—a naturally occurring mineral that exhibits uniaxial birefringence and a dichroicBASIC LCD COMPONENTS 3 E-vector Polarizer Figure 1.2. Schematic drawing of a sheet polarizer that transmits polarization component with E vector perpendicular to the direction of alignment and absorbs polarization component with E vector parallel to the direction of alignment. ratio of about 10. In this crystal the ordinary polarization component (electric field vector perpendicular to c axis) is much more strongly absorbed (about 10 times) than the extraordinary polarization component (electric field vector parallel to c axis). A single crystal plate cut parallel to the axis can be used as a polarizer. Most sheet polarizers are, however, synthesized by stretching films that contain ultrafine rodlike or needle-like dichroic materials. The stretching provides an uniaxial alignment of the crystals or molecules (see Fig. 1.2). Dichroic ratios of greater than 100 can be easily obtained. A beam of polarized light with the vector amplitude parallel to the molecular axis may suffer more material absorption. Thus, given enough thickness, the stretched films transmit one polarization component that is perpendicular to the direction of alignment and absorb the other polarization component that is parallel to the direction of alignment. These sheet polarizers provide excellent extinction ratios while simultaneously accommodating a large angular aperture and an enormously large linear aperture. These are desirable features for large flat panel applications. Another method of producing dichroic materials is to embed oriented ultrafine metallic needles that are not dichroic by themselves in a medium. The composite material then is said to have form dichroism, just as a composite medium containing oriented dielectric needles exhibits form birefringence [1]. Generally speaking, 50% of the incident energy of a beam of unpolarized light is absorbed by an ideal polarizer. This energy loss of about 3 dB accounts for the absorption of one of the polarization components resulting in a beam of plane polarized light. When two identical sheet polarizers are in series, the intensity transmission is approximately proportional to cos?@, where @ is the angle between the directions of alignment of the two polarizers. Thus a pair of cross-polarizers (0 = 90°) can block the transmission of light regardless of the polarization state of the incident beam (see Fig. 1.3).4 PRELIMINARIES Figure 1.3. Transmission of unpolarized light through two polarizers in series. 1.1.2. Transparent Electrodes To allow the transmission of light, the electrodes must be transparent in the spectral regime of interest. This requires transparent materials with a good electrical conductivity. For example, tin oxide (SnO2) is a transparent material which also exhibits a good electrical conductivity. Generally speaking, all transparent semiconductors exhibit a finite electrical conductivity. The electrical conductivity in semiconductors can also be increased by an appropriate doping of impurity atoms. In recent LCD applications, ITO (indium tin oxide) is usually used because of its higher electrical conductivity. All transparent conductors exhibit a small absorption of light. Thus, the electrodes must be thin enough to allow adequate light transmission, yet thick enough to provide adequate electrical conductivity. As a result of the index mismatch between the glass substrate and the electrode materials, a Fabry—Perot cavity is formed in each of the electrodes which are sandwiched between glass and the liquid crystal. A proper choice of the thickness can ensure a constructive interference to maximize the transmission of light. In typical electrodes, the ITO thickness is in the range of 100-300 nm. 1.1.3. Liquid Crystal Cell The space between the electrodes is filled with liquid crystal (LC) material. The thickness of the LC layer is kept uniform by using glass fibers or plastic balls as spacers. Typical thicknesses of the cell are in the range of a few micrometers. There are several different LC configurations that can be employed for display applications. For the purpose of illustrating the principle of operation of a basic element of LCD, we consider the case of a planar nematic LC cell where all the rodlike LC molecules are aligned parallel to the glass plates. In an LC cell without any external field, the ordering of the molecules is usually determined by the anisotropy of the boundary. The surfaces of the electrodes are usually coated with a thin alignment layer (e.g., polyimide). Rubbing the surface of the alignment layer has been widely employed to align the liquid crystals in LCD panel fabrication. The LC molecules are aligned on the rubbed surface with their axes parallel to the rubbing direction, especially forPROPERTIES OF LIQUID CRYSTALS 5 V=0 (a) Voltage On (b) Voltage Off Figure 1.4. LC cell can be controlled electrically to modify the polarization state of an incoming beam (n is a unit vector indicating the direction of alignment of the liquid crystal molecules): (a) voltage on; (b) voltage OFF. those molecules immediately next to the boundary. Depending on the boundary conditions, a long range ordering of the molecules may exist throughout the LC cell. By virtue of its electrical anisotropy, the ordering and the orientation of the molecules can be controlled electrically by applying an external field. In the presence of an applied electric field, rodlike molecules are aligned parallel to the applied electric field to minimize the electrostatic energy. As a result of the ordering of the molecules, nematic liquid crystals exhibit a strong optical birefringence. In other words, there are two modes of optical propagation, each with a unique phase velocity. The difference in the phase velocity leads to a phase retardation between these two modes. As a consequence, the polarization state of an incoming beam of polarized light can be modified. An example is shown in Figure 1.4b, where an incoming beam of vertically polarized light is converted into a beam of horizontally polarized light as a result of a properly chosen phase retardation. If the axes of all the molecules are aligned parallel to the propagation direction of the incoming beam by applying an external electric field, the polarization state will remain unchanged. This is illustrated in Figure 1.4a. When such an LC cell is sand- wiched between a pair of cross-polarizers (or parallel polarizers), the intensity of the transmitted beam can be controlled electrically. 1.2, PROPERTIES OF LIQUID CRYSTALS Liquid crystal is a state of matter that is intermediate between the crystalline solid and the amorphous liquid. It may also be viewed as a liquid in which an ordered arrangement of molecules exists. Liquid crystals arise under certain conditions in organic substances having sharply anisotropic molecules, that is, highly elongated (rodlike) molecules or flat (disklike) molecules. A direct consequence of the ordering of the anisotropic molecules is the anisotropy of mechanical, electric, magnetic, and optical properties. This intermediate state was first observed in 1888 in cholesteryl benzoate, a crystalline solid. It becomes6 PRELIMINARIES Table 1.1. Liquid Crystal Materials Name Formula Nematic Range (°C) PAA cH0-{-nan-{_)-0cts 118-135.5 oO EBBA cxgcrno-{)-c=n-{" catty 35-77 0 MBBA cr0{)-C=N-{ Cat 22-47 O CCH-S01 cst > OCH; 29-368 5CB Cth Kp CN 24-35 6CB Cots { p< )-en 15-29 a turbid cloudy liquid, or liquid crystals, when heated to 145°C; on further heating to 179°C the liquid becomes isotropic and clear. The sequence is reversed when the substance is cooled. The cloudy intermediate phase contains domains that seem to have a crystal-like molecular structure. Color changes occur on both heating and cooling. Many organic compounds, such as hexylcyanobiphenyl (6CB) and sodium benzoate, exhibiting this behavior are known and used extensively in electric and electronic displays, electronic clocks, calculators, and similar devices dependent on temperature determination. Table 1.1 lists a number of LC materials and their nematic ranges. Hexylcyanobiphenyl (6BC) is a nematic LC in the temperature range 15°C Splay - V-n#0 EY Twist n-Vxn#0 L7 ) ul Bend = nx Vxn#0 Figure 1.6. Schematic drawing of splay, twist, and bend in LC.PROPERTIES OF LIQUID CRYSTALS 15 It can be shown that for an isothermal deformation in an incompressible fluid, the free energy (elastic energy) can be written as a quadratic function of the curvature strain tensor. Following the notation of Oseen—Frank theory, the elastic energy density of a deformed LC can be written [2,3] F=3k(V-n)? +4ho(0-V xn)? +4k3(n x V xn)? (1.2-8) where k,, kz, and k3 are the splay, twist, and bend elastic constants, respectively. Like many other physical properties, the elastic constants are strongly temperature dependent. For most LC compounds, the elastic constants are in the range of 3-25 piconewtons (10~!2N). The ratio for the elastic constants varies from 0.7-1.8 for k3/k, and varies from 1.3 to 3.2 for k3/k. Table 1.2 lists the elastic constants for some typical LC materials. 1.2.5. Viscosity—Rotational Viscosity The viscosity of fluid is an internal resistance to flow, defined as the ratio of shearing stress to the rate of shear. It arises from the intermolecular forces in the fluid. The viscous behavior of liquid crystals has a profound effect on the dynamical behavior of LCD systems. Like most liquids, the viscosity increases at low temperatures as a result of lower molecular kinetic energy. This can severely limit the operations of LCDs. An important parameter is the rotational viscosity coefficient y,, which provides a resistance to the rotational motion of the LC molecules. In most LCDs, the directors are reoriented by the application of an electric field. The switching time is approximately proportional to y,d?, where d represents the cell spacing. For most nematic LCs used in displays, the magnitude of the rotational viscosity is in the range of 0.02—0.5 Pa-s (compar- able to light machine oils). As a reference, water at 20°C has a viscosity of 1.002mPa-s. The viscosity unit of Pa-s (pascal-second) corresponds to IN- sim? in SI (Systéme International) units, or 10 poise (1 poise = 1 dyn-s/ cm? in cgs (centimeter—gram-—second) units). It is known experimentally that molecules with a higher number of rings or longer alkyl chains are characterized by an increasing viscosity. In addition, LCs with high values of As usually exhibit higher viscosities. This is possibly due to the stronger polar interaction between the molecules. 1.2.6. Surface Alignment and Rubbing As a result of the rodlike or disklike nature, the distribution of the orientation of LC molecules plays an essential role in the optical properties of liquid crystal in display applications. Uniform or well prescribed orientation of the LC molecules is required in most LCDs. The role of the surface is to ensure a single domain. Without special treatments of the surfaces (either physical or chemical), the LC will generally have many domains and many disinclinations, or discontinuities16 PRELIMINARIES PIL ttl ened ae Substrate Substrate (a) (b) Figure 1.7. (a) Homeotropic (vertical) alignment; (b) parallel homogeneous alignment, in orientations. These domains and discontinuities can cause a severe scattering of light, leading to a cloudy appearance. The alignment of a LC by the surface treatment of a substrate has been one of the least understood aspects of LC behavior. It depends on both the nature of the LC and the surface. The most important factors include dipolar interactions, chemical and hydrogen bonding, van der Waals interactions, steric factors, surface topography, and the elasticity of LC molecules. For example, it is possible to deposit molecules known as silane coupling agents on to a glassy surface. These molecules may promote the adhesion of LC molecules, in a vertical manner, onto the surface; this is known as homeotropic alignment when the LC director is normal to the surface (see Fig. 1.7). To achieve a “parallel homogeneous alignment” (see Fig. 1.7) where the LC director is uniformly parallel to the surface of the substrate, one must provide a preferred orientation to the alignment by physically or chemically treating the surface. Rubbing the surface has been a simple and effective way of achieving a preferred orientation. Typical rubbing materials include linen cloth and lens paper. Although the technique of rubbing to achieve parallel homogeneous alignment is still very much an art, it is generally believed that physically rubbing the surface produces a uniform and unidirectional tilt of the dangling bonds or side chains on the surface (see Fig. 1.8). The unidirectional tilt of these surface molecules may lead to the parallel homogeneous alignment of the LC molecules. Notice that the LC director usually tilts up in the direction of rubbing. ec eer eee SS eC Se CC NS SS ee (ee oot Rubbing direction Figure 1.8. Schematic drawing of the anchoring of rodlike LC molecules near the surface of a rubbed substrate.PROPERTIES OF LIQUID CRYSTALS 17 Pretilt Angle As a result of the surface rubbing, a small tilt angle exists for the LC director. The pretilt angle is very important in electrooptic applications when an electric field is applied to the cell to reorient the LC director. Having no polarity, the rodlike LC molecules can turn in two ways following the application of an electric field, if the electric field is initially perpendicular to the molecular axis. A small tilt angle of the molecular axis would greatly facilitate the turning of the molecule under the application of an electric field, and ensure a single way of turning. A single way of turning for all molecules in the cell will ensure a single domain, which is essential in most display applications. Referring to Figure 1.9, we consider the distribution of director in a parallel cell of nematic LC. A uniform tilt angle can exist in a parallel cell provided the rubbing directions in the inner surfaces are antiparallel (see Fig. 1.9a). If, on the other hand, the rubbing directions are parallel as shown in Figure 1.9b,c, a nonuniform distribution of the director orientation exists with a zero tilt or 90° angle at midlayer. These are the splay or bend cells. For small pretilt angles, the splay cell has the lowest elastic energy density. This is, however, an undesirable config- uration for electrooptic applications, as multiple domains may occur when an electric field is applied. The bend cell is also known as the Pi cell, which was originally developed by Bos et al. for an electrically controllable wave plate [13]. Twisted Nematic Liquid Crystal Cell The pretilt angle also plays an important role in twisted nematic liquid crystal (TN-LC) cells. Referring to Figure 1.10, we consider a liquid crystal cell with a pair of orthogonal rubbing directions. The rubbing directions are important to prepare a twisted nematic liquid crystal (TN-LC) cell with a total twist angle of 90°. Having no polarity and no chirality, the rodlike molecules can twist in either direction in the absence of a small pretilt angle. In other words, both | | ~~ ~ NM NN ™ ~oa_GN ~~mo~ NN \ ~NN dd 4S ~o~™ an aaa aa ——— ] — ] (a) (b) © Figure 1.9. Tilt of LC molecular axes due to rubbing of inner surfaces of the LC cell. The arrows indicate the direction of rubbing. (a) Parallel alignment occurs when the rubbings are in opposite directions. Splay cell (b) or bend cell (c) can occur when the rubbings are in the same direction,18 PRELIMINARIES Figure 1.10. Distribution of liquid crystal molecular axes in a 90° TN-LC cell with a right- handed twist. The arrows indicate the rubbing directions at the boundaries. The rods indicate the distribution of director orientations in the cell right-handed and left-handed twist of 90° are possible to match the boundary conditions imposed by the rubbing. When a small pretilt angle exists, only the right-handed twist is possible in the cell described in Figure 1.10. In the cell shown in Figure 1.10, the upper parts of LC molecular axes tilt toward the right side (+ z direction). REFERENCES 1. See, for example, P. Yeh, Optical Waves in Layered Media, Wiley, New York, 1988. 2. C. W. Oseen, Trans. Faraday Soc. 29, 883 (1933). 3. F.C. Frank, Disc. Faraday Soc. 25, 19 (1958). 4. P. G. de Gennes, The Physics of Liquid Crystals, Clarendon Press. Oxford, 1974. 5. U. Finkenzeller et al., “Liquid-crystalline reference compounds,” Lig. Cryst. 5, 313 (1989). 6. Shila Garg, K. A. Crandall, and A. A. Khan, “Bend and splay elastic constants of diheptylazoxybenzene,” Phys. Rev. E 48, 1123 (1993). 7. R. D. Polak, G. P. Crawford, B. C. Kostival, J. W. Doane, and S. Zumer, “Optical determination of the saddle-splay elastic constant K24 in nematic liquid crystals,” Phys. Rev. E 49, R978 (1994). 8. P. P. Karat and N. V. Madhusudana, Mol. Cryst. Lig. Cryst. 40, 239 (1977). 9. Fu-Lung Chen, A. M. Jamieson et al., J. Polym. Sci. (Part B), 33, 1213 (1995). 10. A. Buka, P. G. Owen, and A. H. Price “Dielectric relaxation in the nematic and isotropic phases of n-heptyl- and n-heptoxy-cyanobiphenyl,” Molec. Cryst. Lig. Cyst. 51, 273 (1979). 11, Fu-Lung Chen and A. M. Jamieson, “‘Odd—even effect in the viscoelastic properties of main-chain liquid crystal polymer-low molar mass nematogen mixtures,” Macromolecules 26, 6576 (1993). 12. Data sheet from EM Industries (7 Skyline Drive, Hawthorne, NY 10532).PROBLEMS 19 13. P. J. Bos, K. R. Koehler/Beran, Mol. Cryst. Lig. Cryst. 113, 329-339 (1984). 14, L. Pohl, G. Weber, R. Eidenschink, G. Baur, and W. Fehrenbach, Appl. Phys. Lett. 38, 497 (1981). 15. S. D. Jacobs, “Liquid crystals for laser applications,” in CRC Handbook of Laser Science and Technology, Vol. Il, Optical Materials, Section 2, CRC Press, 1986. 16. M. J. Bradshaw, E. P. Raynes, J. D. Bunning, and T. E. Faber, J. Phys. (Paris) 46, 1513 (1985). 17. D. A. Dunmur, M. R. Manterfield, W. H. Miller, and J. K. Dunleavy, Mol. Cryst. Lig. Cryst. 45, 127 (1978). 18. L. M. Blinovy and V. G. Chigrinov, Electrooptic Effects in Liquid Crystal Materials, Springer-Verlag, 1994, SUGGESTED READINGS P. G. de Gennes and J. Prost, The Physics of Liquid Crystals, Clarendon Press-Oxford, 1993. B. Bahadur, ed., Liquid Crystals—Applications and Uses, Vol. 1, World Scientific, 1990. L. Pohl and U. Finkenzeller, ‘Physical properties of liquid crystals,” in Liquid Crystals—Applications and Uses, Vol. 1, B. Bahadur, ed., World Scientific, 1990, 139-170. T. Scheffer and J. Nehring, “Twisted nematic and supertwisted nematic mode LCDs, ” in Liquid Crystals—Applications and Uses, Vol. 1, B. Bahadur, ed., World Scientific, 1990, Chapter 10, pp. 231-274. S. Chandrasekhar, Liquid Crystals, 2nd ed., Cambridge Univ. Press, 1992. H. J. Deuling, “Elasticity of nematic liquid crystals,” in Liquid Crystals, Solid State Physics Series, Vol. 14, L. Liebert, ed., Academic Press, 1978, pp. 77-107. E. B. Priestley, P. J. Wojtowicz, and P. Sheng, Introduction to Liquid Crystals, Plenum Press, 1979. I. C. Khoo, Liquid Crystals, Wiley, 1995. S. D. Jacobs, K. L. Marshall, and A Schmid, “Liquid crystals,” in CRC Handbook of Laser Science and Technology, Vol. 11, Optical Materials, Section 14, CRC Press, 1995. S. T. Wu, “Liquid crystals,” in Handbook of Optics, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, 1995, Chapter 14. J. L. Fergason, “Liquid crystals,” Sci. Am. 211(2), 77-82, 85 (1964). PROBLEMS 1.1. (a) Show that 50% of the energy of a beam of unpolarized light transmits through an ideal polarizer regardless of the orientation of the polarizer. (b) As discussed in this chapter, the transmitted intensity through two polarizers in series is given by 5 cos?@, Show that the fractional error in the intensity measurement due to an error in A@ is given by —2A6 tan 0.20 1.3. 14. 15. PRELIMINARIES . Polarizers in series: (a) It is known that a pair of crossed polarizers can stop the transmission of light. Show that optical transmission occurs when a third polarizer is inserted between the crossed polarizers with a transmission axis oriented at 45° with respect to those of the crossed polarizers. Find the transmission for unpolarized light, assuming that the orientations of the crossed polarizers are at 0° and 90°. (b Consider the insertion of two polarizers oriented at 30° and 60° between the two crossed polarizers. Find the transmission for unpolarized light. (c) By generalizing (a) and (b), we consider the insertion of N polarizers oriented at equal angular separations. Show that the transmission of unpolarized light approaches $ when N tends to infinity. This is a situation when the electric field vector follows the direction of the transmission axis of the polarizers as the light propagates through the whole set of polarizers in series. Derive Eqs. (1.2-4) and (1.2-5). Let a, and a be the molecular polarizability of LC molecule with % 1 Mz > | | | (2.1-9) > >I. Since the amplitudes A, Ay are independent, the electric field vector of linearly polarized light can vibrate along any direction in the xy plane. Linearly polarizedMONOCHROMATIC PLANE WAVES AND THEIR POLARIZATION STATES 25 light is often called plane polarized light. If we examine the space evolution of the electric field vector at a fixed point in time (say, t = 0), we can express the components of the electric field vector as Ex =A, cos (—kz + 8,) 2.1-10, Ey = Ay cos (—kz + 8y) ( ) with 6 = 8, —8, =0, or m. We note that the sinusoidal curve traced by the components in space is confined in a plane defined by Eq. (2.1-9). The vibration of the electric field vector is confined in this plane. Thus, the beam of light is said to be plane polarized. The terms plane polarized light and linearly polarized light are interchangeable. Linear polarization states are most widely used in optics because of their simplicity. 2.1.2. Circular Polarization State The other special case of importance is that of the circular polarization state. A beam of light is said to be circularly polarized if the electric field vector undergoes uniform rotation in the xy plane. This occurs when A, = Ay and §=8,-8,=440 (2.1-11) Table 2.1. Circular Polarization States ‘Angular Momentum per Photon Sense of Electric Field of a Beam of Light (fio)L. Helicity Rotation k>0 A Right-handed E, = Acos (at — kz) } ki Ey = Acos (ot — kz — 4) ; » = Acos (ot kz ~ 3) k<0 -h —_Lefthanded vt zZ=constant k>0 =f Left-handed Ex = Acos (wt — kz) } h Ey =Acos (wt — kz +h 7 » = Acos (wt — kz + 37) k<0 h Right-handed z= constant26 POLARIZATION OF OPTICAL WAVES According to our convention, the beam of light is right-hand circularly polarized when 6 = —n/2, which corresponds to a counterclockwise rotation of the electric field vector in the xy plane and left-hand circularly polarized when 6 = 1/2, which corresponds to a clockwise rotation of the electric field vector in the xy plane. Our convention for labeling right-hand and left-hand polarization is consistent with the terminology of modern physics in which a photon with a right-hand circular (RHC) polarization has a positive angular momentum along the direction of propagation (see Table 2.1 and Problem 2.4). However, some optics books adopt the opposite convention. The opposite convention arises from the description of the evolution of the electric field vector in space (see Problem 2.10). Itis interesting to note that the conditions of equal amplitude and + m/2 phase shift for circular polarization states are valid in any set of perpendicular coordinates in xy plane. In other words, when the electric field vector of a circularly polarized light is decomposed into any two mutually perpendicular components, the amplitudes are always equal and the phase shift is always 1/2. 2.1.3. Elliptic Polarization States A beam of light is said to be elliptically polarized if the curve traced by the endpoint of the electric field vector is an ellipse (in xy plane). This is the most general case of a polarized light. Both linear polarization states and circular polarization states are special cases of elliptic polarization states. At a given point in space (say, z = 0), Eq. (2.1-5) is a parametric representation of an ellipse traced by the endpoint of the electric field vector. The equation of the ellipse can be obtained by eliminating wr in Eq. (2.1-6). After several steps of elementary algebra, we obtain E,\* (Ey\? , cos8 = <2) _9 S89 LE, = sin? 1-12 (@) +(2) aa,” sin“ (2.1-12) This equation is an equation of conic. From Eq. (2.1-6). It is obvious that this conic is confined in a rectangular region with sides parallel to the coordinate axes and whose lengths are 2A ,, 2A. Therefore, the curve must be an ellipse. Thus, we find that the polarization states of light are, in general, elliptical. A complete description of an elliptical polarization state includes the orientation of the ellipse relative to the coordinate axes, the shape and sense of revolution of the electric field vector. In general, the principal axes of the ellipse are not in the x and y directions. By using a transformation (rotation) of the coordinate system, we are able to diagonalize Eq. (2.1-12). Let x! and y’ be the new set of axes along the principal axes of the ellipse. Then the equation of the ellipse in this newMONOCHROMATIC PLANE WAVES AND THEIR POLARIZATION STATES 27 Figure 2.1. Polarization ellipse. coordinate system becomes (=) + (=) 7 (2.1-13) where a and b are the length of the principal semi-axes of the ellipse and E,: and Ey, are the components of the electric field vector in this principal coordinate system. Let be the angle between the x’ axis and x axis (see Fig. 2.1). Then the length of the principal axes are given by a= Ae cos +A5 sin? + 2A,Aycos8cos > sin 2.1-14 b? =A? sin? +A} cos” — 2A, Ay cos 8 cos d sin & ( ) The angle can be expressed in terms of Ax,Ay, and cos 6 as 2A,Ay tan 2 = raz cos (2.1-15) It is important to note that @ + 1/2 is also a solution, if is a solution of the equation. The sense of revolution of an elliptical polarization is determined by the sign of sind. The endpoint of the electric vector will revolve in a clockwise direction if sin 8 > 0 and in a counterclockwise direction if sin 8 < 0. Figure 2.2 illustrates how the polarization ellipse changes with varying phase difference 6.28 POLARIZATION OF OPTICAL WAVES S 8=-30/4 OE QO 0 U b=n/4 & 30/4 8300/4 b=-1/4 (a) x \ ( 5300/4 b=n d=n/4 (b) Figure 2.2. Polarization ellipses at various phase angles 5: (a) Ey = cos (ct — kz), Ey = cos (wr ~ kz +8); (b) Ex = 0.5 c0s (wt — kz), Ey = cos (ot ~ kz +8). The ellipticity of a polarization ellipse is defined as b =t- 1-16 e zo (2.1-16) where a and b are the half length of the principal axes. The ellipticity is taken as positive when the rotation of the electric field vector is right-handed and negative otherwise. With this definition, e = £1 for circularly polarized light. An elliptic polarization state can always be decomposed into two mutually orthogonal components. The relative phase shift between these two components can be anywhere between —z and x. However, in the principal coordinateCOMPLEX-NUMBER REPRESENTATION 29 system, the relative phase shift between the two orthogonal components is always —1/2 or x/2, depending on the sense of revolution. In summary, light is linearly polarized when the tip of the electric field vector E moves along a straight line. When it describes an ellipse, the light is elliptically polarized. When it describes a circle, the light is circularly polarized. If the end- point of the electric field vector is seen to move in a counterclockwise direction by an observer facing the approaching wave, the field is said to possess right-handed polarization. Figure 2.2 also illustrates the sense of revolution of the ellipse. 2.2. COMPLEX-NUMBER REPRESENTATION From the discussion in the previous section we found how the polarization state of a beam of light can be described in terms of the amplitudes and the phase angles of the x and y components of the electric field vector. In fact, all the information about the polarization state of a wave is contained in the complex amplitude A of the plane wave [see Eq. (2.1-4)]. Therefore, a complex number % defined as > y= e® tany = % eil6o-8.) (2.2-1) Figure 2.3. Complex-number representation of polarization states.