Abstract

Optical phase conjugation and slow light are obtained in dye-doped chiral nematics via degenerate four-wave mixing. The creation of the light-induced dynamical grating is described and the amplitude of the phase-conjugate wave is shown to follow the changes of the input signal, hence providing efficient distortion correction. Associated to these capabilities, slowing down of light pulses is obtained thanks to the dispersive properties of the wave mixing occurring in the cholesteric liquid crystals, opening the way to applications in interferometry and imaging through highly scattering media.

© 2012 Optical Society of America

Two-wave mixing in chiral dye-doped nematic liquid crystals

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