Anomalous intensity dependence of optical reorientation in azo-dye-doped nematic liquid crystals

The intensity dependence of optical nonlinearity in a nematic liquid crystal doped with an azo-dye is investigated. The reorientational part of the nonlinearity changes from self-defocusing to self-focusing character while the intensity passes through the saturation value of trans-cis photoisomeriza...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics, 2004-05, Vol.69 (5 Pt 1), p.051707-051707, Article 051707
Main Authors: Becchi, M, Janossy, I, Shankar Rao, D S, Statman, D
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The intensity dependence of optical nonlinearity in a nematic liquid crystal doped with an azo-dye is investigated. The reorientational part of the nonlinearity changes from self-defocusing to self-focusing character while the intensity passes through the saturation value of trans-cis photoisomerization. This observation, in accordance with previous models, indicates that the optical torque generated by the trans-isomers is of opposite sign than the torque generated by the cis-isomers. At very low intensities a further reorientational nonlinearity was found, which is attributed to light-induced orientational redistribution of adsorbed molecules at the surface.
ISSN:1539-3755
1550-2376
DOI:10.1103/physreve.69.051707