Birefringence studies in ferroelectric liquid crystal doped with titanium dioxide nanoparticles

The following research work determines experimentally the birefringence of the ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) W212 doped with titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) of low concentration in the FLC matrix. For this reason, the method based on transmittance measurements through the investigated sample in the polariscope setup is applied. Optical microscopy observations indicated good alignment quality of the FLC-NP mixtures in planar glass cells. The birefringence measurements clearly indicate that TiO2 NPs reduce the birefringence of the W212 FLC for wavelengths in the measured range between 500 nm and 700 nm. The results can be valuable especially in the context of modelling and designing a new class of FLC-based optical elements both in planar cells and photonic liquid crystal fibers.