Interaction of light with a dye-doped nematic liquid crystal

The interaction of linearly and circularly polarized beams with a nematic liquid crystal doped with light-absorbing dyes has been studied by light-diffraction and microprojection methods. It has been found that there is a threshold for the emergence of light-induced anisotropic structures, which, depending on the type of dye, can be axisymmetric or extended in a direction determined by the light field. Possible mechanisms leading to the formation of the anisotropic structures are discussed. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 111, 2059–2073 (June 1997)