Model of an aligned nematic droplet for small angle tight scattering study

An aligned nematic droplet in the axial configuration is modeled as a hollow spheric scatterer for studying its small angle light scattering characters. When the thickness of the shell is reduced by an external held, calculations by anomalous diffraction approximation suggest that scattering intensity would decrease and scattering peak would drift to a smaller angle. Measured angular scattering intensities show good agreement with calculations. As the shell part originates from anchoring of the nematic molecules to the surrounding medium, angular scattering intensity can be associated with correlation length. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.