Photorefractive polymer-dispersed liquid crystals

We report observation of the photorefractive effect in functionalized polymer-dispersed liquid crystals. The photoconductive properties are provided by the polymer matrix, and the field-dependent refractive-index changes are generated by the dispersed nematic liquid-crystal droplets. A high diffraction efficiency (8%) and a high refractive-index modulation amplitude $\left(\mathrm{\Delta }n=2\times {10}^{-3}\right)$ are obtained in 53-$\mathit{\mu }\mathrm{m}$-thick samples with an applied field of 22 $\mathrm{V}/\mathit{\mu }\mathrm{m}$.