Theory of the acoustic realignment of nematic liquid crystals

When an ultrasonic wave is applied to a nematic liquid-crystal cell, the molecules change their orientation, leading to a change in the optical intensity transmitted through the cell. Modeling this acousto-optic effect involves three separate theoretical issues: (a) calculating the intensity of sound transmitted through the cell walls into the liquid crystal, (b) determining the consequent realignment of the liquid crystal, and (c) deriving the change in optical transmission through the cell. In this paper, we present a theory that addresses all three of these issues, and thereby reproduces the behavior seen in experiments. The theory shows how the performance depends not only on the liquid-crystal material properties, but also on the geometrical parameters of the system, such as the thickness of the glass walls, thickness of the liquid-crystal layer, angle of the ultrasonic wave, viewing angle, and boundary condition at the glass-liquid crystal interface. The theory predicts that the strong dependence on viewing angle still allows an optical image to be seen for realistic dimensions.