Abstract

Coherent amplification of a signal beam by a strong pump beam is observed in thin films of fullerene-doped nematic liquid crystal. Exponential gain constants as high as 2890 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{-1}$ with no phase cross talk are achieved at low applied dc bias voltage and pump beam intensity. The underlying mechanism is the electro-optically induced spatially reorientation of the liquid-crystal axis and the resultant phase-shifted index grating required for two-beam coupling.

© 1997 Optical Society of America

Photorefractive polymer-dispersed liquid crystals

A. Golemme, B. L. Volodin, B. Kippelen, and N. Peyghambarian
Opt. Lett. 22(16) 1226-1228 (1997)

Signal-beam amplification by two-wave mixing in a liquid-crystal light valve

A. Brignon, I. Bongrand, B. Loiseaux, and J.-P. Huignard
Opt. Lett. 22(24) 1855-1857 (1997)

Observation of self-diffraction by gratings in nematic liquid crystals doped with carbon nanotubes

Wei Lee and Chi-Shen Chiu
Opt. Lett. 26(8) 521-523 (2001)

Orientational photorefractive effects observed in polymer-dispersed liquid crystals

Hiroshi Ono and Nobuhiro Kawatsuki
Opt. Lett. 22(15) 1144-1146 (1997)

Optically induced space-charge fields, dc voltage, and extraordinarily large nonlinearity in dye-doped nematic liquid crystals

I. C. Khoo, S. Slussarenko, B. D. Guenther, Min-Yi Shih, P. Chen, and W. V. Wood
Opt. Lett. 23(4) 253-255 (1998)