Ultrasonic modulation of light with a liquid crystal in the smectic-A and nematic phases

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Abstract
An acoustic light modulator, using a liquid crystal (CBOOA) in nematic or smectic phase, is presented. It is shown that with good acoustical matching it is possible, in the nematic phase, to have a modulation of light from very low frequencies up to about 1 MHz, at the least. To the authors’ knowledge this is the first time that modulation has been observed at such high frequencies in the acoustic domain. This behavior is explained as a consequence of the elastic properties of the nematic. Some interesting results are also obtained which follow the behavior of the modulation vs temperature. In the smectic phase it is shown that it is possible to have a modulation only at very high frequencies, as one would expect from the elastic properties of this phase.