The Orientational Optical Non-Linearity of Liquid Crystals

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The cubic optical non-linearity of a cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) having a planar helical texture is considered. A study was made of an effect which has a minimal establishment time and is due to the change in the director distribution along the helix under the orientational influence of the light field. Polarisation peculiarities of the non-linearity, when the light wave propagates along the helical axis, are discussed. Self-focusing should not occur for circulary polarised light, but has the constant ϵ2 ∼ 8.10−8 cm3/erg for linearly polarised light. The additional rotation of the axes of elliptical polarisation is predicted to be proportional to the light intensity and determined by the same constant ϵ2; this rotation is identical for both right-and left-handed CLC. Non-linear optical activity is absent in the approximation under consideration. Analogous effects for light propagating through an oriented nematic are discussed.

This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit: