Nonlinear optical response of self-orienting liquid crystal

Polarizational nonlinear optical response of photonic structures with a liquid crystal defect.

We demonstrate experimentally that a one-dimensional photonic crystal with a homeotropic nematic liquid crystal defect behaves as a polarization-sensitive nonlinear all-optical device. We study statics and dynamics of the nonlinear optical response for linearly and circularly polarized beams and show enhanced light sensitivity and polarization self-modulation effects.

Liquid-Crystal Optical Switches

The optical switching times of liquid-crystal cells using 5CB, 5OCB and PCH5 liquid crystal materials have been characterized as a function of applied voltage, V, and temperature, T. The transition time from 90 to 10 % transmission scales as V and is limited to 50 to 30 ns by the breakdown electric field, ~ 10 V cm of the liquid crystal. The time from the initial voltage step to 90 % transmissi...

Self-focussed optical structures in a nematic liquid crystal

In recent experiments investigating the nonlinear interaction between light and nematic liquid crystals, Braun et al. (1993) observed complex optical beam structures that were generated by the strong self-focussing of laser light. For a simplified partial differential equation (PDE) model which captures the essential coupling between optical refraction and nematic deformation, we demonstrate tw...

Nonlocal nonlinear magneto-optical response of a magnetoplasmonic crystal

Nonlinear optical response of a two-dimensional atomic crystal.

The theory of Bloembergen and Pershan for the light waves at the boundary of nonlinear media is extended to a nonlinear two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystal, i.e., a single planar atomic lattice, placed between linear bulk media. The crystal is treated as a zero-thickness interface, a real 2D system. Harmonic waves emanate from it. Generalization of the laws of reflection and refraction give the...