Novel Liquid Crystalline Structure for Nonlinear Optics.
Abstract
This effort consisted of both theoretical and experimental studies of several novel nonlinear optical phenomena in liquid crystal fiber structure and thin films, exploring their potentials for nonlinear-, electro- and adaptive-optical applications. Continuous and pulsed lasers with pulse durations spanning the nanosecond (ns) to picosecond (ps) regime were employed to study these processes in both the ordered (nematic) and the isotropic (liquid) phases of liquid crystals. The projects completed include: characterization of optical nonlinearities of these liquid crystalline materials, studies of coherent beam amplification, phase conjugation effects, and quantitative characterization of their responses with ns and Ps laser pulses. The nonlinear fiber arrays were shown to be capable of good quality image transmission while serving as an optical limiter for short intense pulses throughout the visible spectrum. This research program has also resulted in the discovery of orientational photorefractive effects which will be relevant to current research and development in adaptive optics and holographic storage systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 21, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA312132
Entities
People
- I. C. Khoo
Organizations
- Pennsylvania State University