Abstract

Birefringent networks play an important role in many advanced optical systems, such as birefringent filters, polarizers, and liquid crystal displays. Most of the applications require a wide field of view and a range of optical axis orientations. In order to design and characterize these devices, the transmission properties of light in birefringent networks must be understood. In this paper, we first review some previous works1 in this area and then derive an extended Jones matrix formulation and an equation of motion for the polarization states. These methods are valid for arbitrary incident angle and can be applied to all gyrotropic media including uniaxial and biaxial crystals and also materials that exhibit optical rotation and Faraday rotation. As an example, this method is employed to analyze a twisted nematic liquid crystal display. The results will be presented and discussed.

© 1992 Optical Society of America