Laser addressed thermo-optic effect in a novel dyed liquid-crystalline polysiloxane

Initial experimental evaluation of a novel liquid-crystalline polysiloxane for thermo-optical recording is presented. A versatile system using a single laser source has been used to gather information on the dynamics of laser addressing. To ensure the most stable, highest-contrast pixel the polymer must be heated through its biphasic region and some way into the isotropic phase. It was found that at 60°C using laser pulses of 300μs or less, write-in and selective erasure times were on the submillisecond timescale, and that bulk erasure required 1-2 min. The use of the polymer in an analogue optical store has been demonstrated and an unoptimized sensitivity of 12nJ/μm² for 632°8 nm light was found at 24°C.