Optical bistability in nematic films utilizing self-focusing of light
- 15 November 1982
- journal article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Applied Physics Letters
- Vol. 41 (10) , 909-911
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.93351
Abstract
Optical bistable operation in the transmission characteristics of a nematic liquid crystal film is observed. The mechanism for the bistability is the self-focusing of light via optically induced molecular reorientations. The process occurs at very modest cw input laser power on the order of 0.3 W (intensity of ∼500 W/cm2) in a 60-μm-thick sample.Keywords
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