We show that including highly polarizable dopants in the pores of a xerogel matrix leads to interesting optical properties and applications, such as an all-optical molecular memory device. By submitting the sample to ultrashort linearly polarized optical pulses, we demonstrate that the dopants tend to align along the direction of the electric field of the optical wave like in classical optical Kerr effect, and that the new alignment of the molecules is partially maintained. We study the influence of the matrix-dopant interactions on this phenomenon. For example, for rhodamine-like molecules, we establish that the alignment ability as well as the relaxation times depend strongly on the structure of the gel network and on the coupling intensity between the host matrix and the guest molecule.

Date Published: 13 October 1994
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 2288, Sol-Gel Optics III, (13 October 1994); doi: 10.1117/12.188998

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2288:
Sol-Gel Optics III
John D. Mackenzie, Editor(s)