Abstract
We have observed extraordinarily large optical nonlinearity in Methyl Red-doped nematic liquid-crystal film. Grating diffraction can be generated with an optical intensity as low as 40 μW/cm2, and a refractive-index change coefficient of more than 6 cm2/W is obtained. The effect is attributed to formation of an optically induced dc space-charge field and to the resulting reorientation of the highly birefringent nematic director axis.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 253-255 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Optics Letters |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 15 1998 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics