Optical rectification of nematics by nonlinear optical Pockel’s effect and its enhancement by dye-doping

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Abstract
The optical rectification of a nematic liquid crystal by the nonlinear optical Pockel’s effect induced by a Freedericksz transition [Trans. Faraday Soc. 29, 919 (1933)] is presented as a mechanism for producing an anomalous photoinduced current transient. Explicit expressions for the photovoltaic emf and the current transient are derived and shown to be in good agreement with experiment. Motivated by the theory we have succeeded in finding and implementing a method, dye doping, to enhance the effect.