Analysis of the multireflection effects in compensated liquid crystal devices

The effect of multiple internal reflections on the extinction ratio of perfectly compensated liquid crystal devices is studied. We find the previously unexplained wavelength dependence of light leakage in an ideally compensated device is caused by the interference of the internally reflected ordinary and extraordinary waves. While these effects have not been previously made clear, they can place a limit on the performance of liquid crystal devices used as displays, optical switches, and optical attenuators. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.