Interaction of intense laser light with chiral nematic structure was examined by use of a reflected-probe-beam experimental technique. The technique is sensitive to structural changes in periodic media and appears to be as valuable for chiral nematics (CHNs) investigation as roentgenographic diffraction for crystal lattices. The probe-beam reflexes for various pitch-to-pump-laser- wavelength ratio including the selective reflection region, various glancing angles of the probe beam, and various CHN- layer thicknesses are presented. In the experiment a great care was taken to distinguish optical nonlinearity of the collective nature from that of thermal or photochemical origin. The results we have obtained point out the optical field-CHN structure coupling rather than the non-collective mechanism of observed effects.

Date Published: 1 February 1998
PDF: 4 pages
Proc. SPIE 3318, Liquid Crystals: Physics, Technology, and Applications, (1 February 1998); doi: 10.1117/12.300010

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3318:
Liquid Crystals: Physics, Technology, and Applications
Jolanta Rutkowska; Stanislaw J. Klosowicz; Jerzy Zielinski; Jozef Zmija, Editor(s)