Electrically Induced Shear Flows of Liquid Crystals Confined to Porous Polymer Films for THz Application

In this paper we consider new possibilities to control the THz irradiation via usage of the previously studied [1] electro-kinetic phenomena in the porous polymer (PET) film filled with a nematic liquid crystal (NLC). It is shown that a sample of the porous film may play the role of electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) pump, which induces a shear Poiseuille flow of NLC through the sandwich-like cell connected with the pump. The shear flow results in changing of the initial orientation of LC, which can be used to control the THz irradiation passing through the sandwich-like cell.