Utilization of the Cholesteric → Nematic Phase Transition for the Evaluation of Polarization Spectra with Unpolarized Light

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Abstract
A spectroscopic technique for the determination of optical polarization spectra is described where the anisotropic sample serves as its own polarizer. The molecular alignment of solute molecules is converted from a helical cholesteric to a uniaxial nematic structure by means of an electric field. The variation in the absorption of incident unpolarized light by an aligned solute in the two states provides the polarization of the optical transition of interest.