Absorption and scattering measurements of nematic liquid crystals

Absorption and scattering losses of visible radiation in nematic liquid crystals (LCs) were measured by an improved transmission technique. The absorption loss of the E-7 LC mixture was found to be ~1 order of magnitude larger than the scattering in the isotropic state. On the contrary, light scattering surpasses absorption by ~2 orders in the nematic state. Wavelength-dependent absorption and scattering losses of two LCs, E-7 and MBBA, were investigated at some laser wavelengths. Results indicate that the absorption tail of LCs decreases with wavelength as lambda(-2) and scattering as lambda(-4) as expected by theory.