Using polarized light scattered at 45' from mixtures of chiral CB15 and nonchiral E9 liquid crystals, we have measured the Mueller matrices characterizing the Bragg reflections of bluephase structures BPI, BPIIA, and BPIIB. Surprisingly, all of these structures possess essentially the same Mueller matrix, namely, that of an elliptical polarizer with axial ratio =0.7. The implications of the results on the allowed space groups of the blue phases is discussed in the context of the theory of Hornreich and Shtrikman.
We have measured the angular dependence of the selective reflection in the blue phases of cholesteryl oleyl carbonate and cholesteryl myristate. We have also measured the wavelength dependence of the index of refraction in the blue and isotropic phases and the intrinsic optical absorption in the isotropic phase of both materials. The angular dependence is explained by the equation of Ferguson, which also describes the angular dependence of the selective reflection in the cholesteric phase. Using the absorption and refractive index data we are able to explain the visual appearance of the blue phase.
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