Orientational effects of twisted light on twisted nematic liquid crystals

The interaction of twisted light beams with nematic liquid crystals is described in terms of Landau's free energy formalism and the uniaxial dielectric model for the liquid crystal. This leads us to a partial differential equation, which is characterized by one position-dependent coefficient, governing the changes in the spatial distribution of the director orientation in the liquid crystal. Numerical solutions are determined for a typical arrangement involving a twisted nematic liquid crystal illuminated by a linearly polarized twisted light beam, predicting significant director re-orientations due to the twisted light. © 2006 IOP Publishing Ltd.