New method of determination of the tilt angle at a liquid crystal-glass interface

We propose a polarimetric method for measuring the tilt angle of the LC director at an LC layer interface.The method involves the use of an LC cell operating in the mode of the total internal reflection of the ordinary wave. The method is based on measuring the angle of the plane of light incidence on the cell with the polarization vector of the extraordinary wave passed through the cell or with the polarization vector of the ordinary wave reflected from the cell. To calculate the tilt angle, the polarization azimuth of the light incident on the cell, which induces only the ordinary wave, can be also used.The method is applicable throughout the whole range of the LC director tilt angles.