Vladimir G. Chigrinov obtained his Ph.D. from the Institute of Crystallography, USSR Academy of Sciences, in 1978, and his state doctorate from the same Institute in 1988. Since 1996, he has been working as a leading scientist at the Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography in Moscow, prior to which he held a post as head of division of the Organic Intermediates and Dyes Institute, Scientific Research Center of Russia. Dr. Chigrinov is a member of the editorial board of the journal 'Liquid Crystal Today' and the author of several books and numerous scientific papers. He is Visiting Associate Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and a senior member of the Society for Information Display.

Series Editor's Foreword xiii
 
Preface xv
 
Acknowledgments xix
 
List of Abbreviations xxi
 
About the Companion Website xxiii
 
1 Polarization of Monochromatic Waves. Background of the Jones Matrix Methods. The Jones Calculus 1
 
1.1 Homogeneous Waves in Isotropic Media 1
 
1.1.1 Plane Waves 1
 
1.1.2 Polarization. Jones Vectors 3
 
1.1.3 Coordinate Transformation Rules for Jones Vectors. Orthogonal Polarizations. Decomposition of a Wave into Two Orthogonally Polarized Waves 9
 
1.2 Interface Optics for Isotropic Media 14
 
1.2.1 Fresnel's Formulas. Snell's Law 14
 
1.2.2 Reflection and Transmission Jones Matrices for a Plane Interface between Isotropic Media 20
 
1.3 Wave Propagation in Anisotropic Media 23
 
1.3.1 Wave Equations 23
 
1.3.2 Waves in a Uniaxial Layer 25
 
1.3.3 A Simple Birefringent Layer and Its Principal Axes 30
 
1.3.4 Transmission Jones Matrices of a Simple Birefringent Layer at Normal Incidence 32
 
1.3.5 Linear Retarders 36
 
1.3.6 Jones Matrices of Absorptive Polarizers. Ideal Polarizer 38
 
1.4 Jones Calculus 41
 
1.4.1 Basic Principles of the Jones Calculus 42
 
1.4.2 Three Useful Theorems for Transmissive Systems 46
 
1.4.3 Reciprocity Relations. Jones's Reversibility Theorem 50
 
1.4.4 Theorem of Polarization Reversibility for Systems Without Diattenuation 53
 
1.4.5 Particular Variants of Application of the Jones Calculus. Cartesian Jones Vectors for Wave Fields in Anisotropic Media 55
 
References 57
 
2 The Jones Calculus: Solutions for Ideal Twisted Structures and Their Applications in LCD Optics 59
 
2.1 Jones Matrix and Eigenmodes of a Liquid Crystal Layer with an Ideal Twisted Structure 59
 
2.2 LCD Optics and the Gooch-Tarry Formulas 64
 
2.3 Interactive Simulation 67
 
2.4 Parameter Space 69
 
References 73
 
3 Optical Equivalence Theorem 75
 
3.1 General Optical Equivalence Theorem 75
 
3.2 Optical Equivalence for the Twisted Nematic Liquid Crystal Cell 77
 
3.3 Polarization Conserving Modes 77
 
3.3.1 LP1 Modes 78
 
3.3.2 LP2 Modes 79
 
3.3.3 LP3 Modes 80
 
3.3.4 CP Modes 81
 
3.4 Application to Nematic Bistable LCDs 82
 
3.4.1 2pi Bistable TN Displays 82
 
3.4.2 Pi Bistable TN Displays 83
 
3.5 Application to Reflective Displays 84
 
3.6 Measurement of Characteristic Parameters of an LC Cell 86
 
3.6.1 Characteristic Angle Omega 86
 
3.6.2 Characteristic Phase Gamma 87
 
References 87
 
4 Electro-optical Modes: Practical Examples of LCD Modeling and Optimization 91
 
4.1 Optimization of LCD Performance in Various Electro-optical Modes 91
 
4.1.1 Electrically Controlled Birefringence 91
 
4.1.2 Twist Effect 101
 
4.1.3 Supertwist Effect 109
 
4.1.4 Optimization of Optical Performance of Reflective LCDs 116
 
4.2 Transflective LCDs 119
 
4.2.1 Dual-Mode Single-Cell-Gap Approach 119
 
4.2.2 Single-Mode Single-Cell-Gap Approach 122
 
4.3 Total Internal Reflection Mode 124
 
4.4 Ferroelectric LCDs 131
 
4.4.1 Basic Physical Properties 131
 
4.4.2 Electro-optical Effects in FLC Cells 135
 
4.5 Birefringent Color Generation in Dichromatic Reflective FLCDs 145
 
References 149
 
5 Necessary Mathematics. Radiometric Terms. Conventions. Various Stokes and Jones Vectors 153
 
5.1 Some Definitions and Relations from Matrix Algebra 153
 
5.1.1 General Definitions 153
 
5.1.2

Focusing on polarization matrix optics in many forms, this book includes coverage of a wide range of methods which have been applied to LCD modeling, ranging from the simple Jones matrix method to elaborate and high accuracy algorithms suitable for off-axis optics. Researchers and scientists are constantly striving for improved performance, faster response times, wide viewing angles, improved colour in liquid crystal display development, and with this comes the need to model LCD devices effectively. The authors have significant experience in dealing with the problems related to the practical application of liquid crystals, in particular their optical performance.
 
Key features:
* Explores analytical solutions and approximations to important cases in the matrix treatment of different LC layer configurations, and the application of these results to improve the computational method
* Provides the analysis of accuracies of the different approaches discussed in the book
* Explains the development of the Eigenwave Jones matrix method which offers a path to improved accuracy compared to Jones matrix and extended Jones matrix formalisms, while achieving significant improvement in computational speed and versatility compared to full 4x4 matrix methods
* Includes a companion website hosting the authors' program library LMOPTICS (FORTRAN 90), a collection of routines for calculating the optical characteristics of stratified media, the use of which allows for the easy implementation of the methods described in this book. The website also contains a set of sample programs (source codes) using LMOPTICS, which exemplify the application of these methods in different situations