Simple method for the determination of refractive indices and loss parameters for liquid-crystal materials in the millimeter-wave region

A reflection-type liquid crystal (LC) test cell is prepared with a rectangular waveguide for investigation of a novel method to determine refractive indices and loss parameters of nematic liquid-crystal materials. As the bottom of the test cell is sealed with a glass window and the top of the cell is capped with a metal-tipped movable reflector after the LC materials are injected, both ends of the waveguide test cell have large reflectance. Thus the reflection properties of the LC test cell can be well described by a multiple-beam interference model. A simple method for the determination of refractive indices from the reflection measurement data is proposed based on results of some investigations with the theoretical model. Commercially available LC materials have been measured with this method at a millimeter-wave frequency (50 GHz) by use of a simple experimental setup with a Gunn oscillator and a diode detector.