OPTICAL SECOND- AND THIRD-HARMONIC GENERATION IN CHOLESTERYL NONANOATE LIQUID CRYSTAL

Abstract
Laser‐induced generation of second‐ and third‐harmonic radiation is studied in cholesteryl nonanoate and in other cholesteric and nematic liquid crystals. No second harmonic is observed in any of the liquid‐crystal mesomorphic phases, indicating their ordered molecular arrangements to be centrosymmetric. Large changes in third‐harmonic intensity occur at several phase transitions, and their possible origins are considered.