Spectroscopic measurement of liquid crystal anisotropy in the ultraviolet/visible region

The optical anisotropy and phase transition of a nematic liquid crystalline have been studied as a function of temperature, at the wavelength interval 380–780 nm. The experiment utilizes a spectrophotometer, a thermal controller, a polarization microscope and a high resolution CCD camera sensitive in the visible spectral region. At the phase transition region, we obtained the transmitted light intensity using the spectrophotometer and the morphological texture using the polarization microscope and the CCD system. The experimental results are comparable with previous measurements performed by means of a conventional spectroscopic technique.