TRANSMISSION OF LIGHT THROUGH A SLAB OF CHOLESTERIC LIQUID-CRYSTAL

A theoretical treatment is given of the problem of transmission of light through a slab of cholesteric liquid crystal. The axially symmetric arrangement is considered in which the faces of the crystal are perpendicular to the axis and the light propagation is parallel to the axis. The linear problem, as governed by Maxwell's equations and the usual boundary conditions, is treated. Explicit solutions for the transmitted fields are obtained, for either circular polarization of the incident wave. Several limiting cases are discussed, in which especially simple formulas apply and in which there are physical pictures of the transmission phenomena.