%0 Journal Article
%A Martínez Matos, Óscar
%A Vaveliuk, Pablo
%A Moraes, Fernando Jorge Sampaio
%A Fumeron, Sebastien
%A Calvo Padilla, María Luisa
%T Structure of the dielectric tensor in nematic liquid crystals with topological charge
%D 2010
%@ 1084-7529
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/44156
%X A q-plate is a stratified medium composed of a uniaxial nematic liquid crystal with an inhomogeneous orientation of the optical axis possessing a topological charge q, which looks promising as a switching device. This work reports an approach to diagonalizing the dielectric tensor in q-plates, giving a detailed study of nontrivial tensor coordinate transformations. The relationship between the diagonal dielectric tensor and the topological charge of the plate is established. From that, the dielectric tensor for a given q-plate can be explicitly calculated in a convenient frame, and hence the field propagation equations can be derived. These studies establish a theoretical basis that could further deepen the research on these particular structures for nonconventional manipulation of the light.
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