Evolution of domain structure and formation of charged domain walls during polarization reversal in lithium niobate single crystals modified by vacuum annealing

The evolution of the domain structure during polarization reversal has been investigated in plates of lithium niobate with spatially inhomogeneous electrical conductivity produced by vacuum annealing. The formation of charged domain walls in the crystal bulk has been studied. Revealed features of the domain growth in the bulk have been attributed to the formation of nanodomains under the pyroelectric field and inhomogeneous spatial distribution of the electric field. Creation of the charged domain walls with controlled parameters is of great interest for domain walls engineering.     

The pyroelectric signal from triglycine sulphate

The pyroelectric signal from triglycine sulphate has been studied by a focussed He-Ne laser beam and a phase sensitive detection method. It is observed that anti-parallel domains give rise to pyroelectric signals of opposite polarity. The pyroelectric signal is zero when the laser spot is in between anti-parallel domains. The intensity of the pyroelectric signal is recorded and the domain structure is determined.     

Comparison of ferroelectric domain delineation in triglycine sulphate by the etching technique and the pyroelectric laser technique. Application to the study of polarization reversal

It is shown that the well-known etch technique and the newly developed pyroelectric laser technique can reveal similar domains. However the latter technique is so fast that it appears as the best one to study problems such as nucleation and domain wall motion.

In the case of an alanine doped TGS crystal it is shown that domain wall motions started at a given nucleation field E₁ stop at some characteristic boundary lines in the crystal. To carry on the polarization reversal, we have to increase the electric field up to some higher value E₂ which is the minimum value of the nucleation field in the next area. Then a new domain is growing very rapidly by wall motions until the characteristic boundary lines of this area are reached. These lines are probably dislocation lines. It is shown that a direct side observation of domains is possible. Conical and cylindrical domains are clearly visible.     

Pyroelectric investigation of the surface polarization in the isotropic phase of a nematic liquid crystal

Measurements of the temperature dependence of the pyroelectric coefficients in cells with homeotropic and planar boundary conditions were performed in order to study the surface polarization and determine its nature in the isotropic phase of a nematic liquid crystal. Analysis of these data established that the ordering polarization arising as a result of the nonuniformity of the order parameter in the near-boundary region of the liquid crystal and the polar monolayer due to the bifilar properties of the molecules of the liquid crystal at the boundary with the solid wall of the cell are responsible for the surface polarization in the isotropic phase of a nematic liquid crystal. The values of the pyroelectric coefficients of monolayers and the coefficients of the ordering polarization for planar and homeotropic orientations are estimated.     

光扇效应对Ce∶KNSBN记录偏振组态的影响

在非同时读出条件下,采用Ar+ 514.5 nm单色激光为光源。以信号光为非寻常偏振光(e光),通过改变抽运光的偏振态,研究不同写入光偏振组态下Ce∶KNSBN晶体的两波耦合特性。结果表明     

Cluster self-organization of nanotubes in a nematic phase: The percolation behavior and appearance of optical singularities

The structural features, as well as the optical and electrophysical properties of a 5CB nematic liquid crystal with additions of multilayer carbon nanotubes, have been investigated in the concentration range C = 0.0025–0.1 wt %. The self-aggregation of nanotubes into clusters with a fractal structure occurs in the liquid crystal. At 0.025 wt %, the clusters are merged, initiating the percolation transition of the composite to a state with a high electric conductivity. The strong interaction of 5CB molecules with the surface of nanotube clusters is responsible for the formation of micron surface liquid crystal layers with an irregular field of elastic stresses and a complex structure of birefringence. They are easily observed in a polarization microscope and visualize directly invisible submicron nanotube aggregates. Their transverse size increases when an electric field is applied to the liquid crystal cell. Two mechanisms of the generation of optical singularities in the passing laser beam have been revealed. Optical vortices appear in the speckle fields of laser radiation scattered at the indented boundaries of the nanotube clusters, whereas the birefringence of the beam in surface liquid-crystal layers is accompanied by the appearance of polarization C points.     

Polarization properties of SC generated in CaF2

Polarization of SC generated by 80 fs pulses of Ti:Sapphire laser strongly depends on the orientation of CaF₂ plate with respect to the plane of polarization of the pump light. Intensity modulation of the broad blue-shifted wing of SC against crystal rotation for the polarization parallel and orthogonal to the polarization of the pump beam is observed with CaF₂ and Sapphire. Observed modulation is due to evolution of the polarization state along the propagation distance in crystal.     

一种激光平行分束器的设计

为满足波面剪切干涉和双细光束干涉曲反射表面非接触精密测量、台阶高度测量以及其他平行分光需要,利用双折射晶体特性,研究并设计了一种单一平板激光平行分束器。当一束激光入射到双折射晶体时,它的2个相互正交的的偏振分量将有不同的折射特性,因此特定晶轴方向和厚度的晶体平行平板可以实现入射光束的平行分束。描述了双折射晶体平行平板的分束原理,推导了分束距离与光轴方向、晶体厚度、入射角的关系,分析了分束距离随主要设计参数的变化规律。采用设计的晶体激光分束器进行了实验测试,验证了分析与实测结果的一致性。     

Pyroelectric properties of an antiferroelectric liquid crystal

The effects of temperature and applied voltage on the pyroelectric properties of an antiferroelectric liquid crystal are given. It has been found that the pyroelectric signal depends strongly on the bias voltage across the sample. The pyroelectric signal behaviour is interpreted with the aid of spontaneous polarization data and good agreement is found between the results from the pyroelectric and polarization techniques. The spontaneous polarization of the sample exhibits the temperature- and field-induced `Devil's staircase' behaviour, as predicted by the Ising model.     

Pyroelectric and piezoelectric responses of thin AlN films epitaxy-grown on a SiC/Si substrate

This paper presents the results of pyroelectric and piezoelectric studies of AlN films formed by chloride–hydride epitaxy (CHE) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on epitaxial SiC nanolayers grown on Si by the atom substitution method. The surface topography and piezoelectric and pyroelecrtric responses of AlN films have been analyzed. The results of the study have shown that the vertical component of the piezoresponse in CHE-grown AlN films is more homogeneous over the film area than that in MBE-grown AlN films. However, the signal from the MBE-synthesized AlN films proved to be stronger. The inversion of the polar axis (polarization vector) on passage from MBE-grown AlN films to CHE-grown AlN films has been found experimentally. It has been shown that the polar axis in MBE-grown films is directed from the free surface of the film toward the Si substrate while, in CHE-grown films, the polarization vector is directed toward the free surface.     

Surface and flexoelectric polarization in a nematic liquid crystal 5CB

The temperature dependence of the surface polarization has been measured for both the planar and homeotropic orientation of a nematic liquid crystal at a solid substrate. A conventional liquid crystal 5CB, pure and doped with an azo-dye, was used in cells with controlled asymmetry for light absorption. The measurements have been made by a pyroelectric technique using short pulses of a YAG laser to create a temperature increment. The latter, in turn, was measured independently by a novel time-resolved “optical thermometer” technique monitoring temperature-dependent birefringence by a He- Ne laser beam. In accordance with the symmetry of the order parameter, the surface polarization has different sign for the two orientations, its magnitude ranges from -4 to +2pC/m. The same technique has been used for the measurement of the flexoelectric polarization in hybrid cells. The sum of the flexoelectric coefficients is e ₁ + e ₃ = - 13pC/m at 25°C. Received 28 February 2000 and Received in final form 5 September 2000     

Femtosecond pulse laser-induced self-organized nanogratings on the surface of a ZnSe crystal

Periodic nanostructures are observed on the surface of ZnSe after irradiation by a focused beam of a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser, which are aligned perpendicular to the laser polarization direction. The period of self-organized grating structures is about 160 nm. The phenomenon is interpreted in terms of interference between the incident light field and the surface scattered wave of 800-nm laser pulses. With the laser polarization parallel to the moving direction we produce long-range Bragg-like gratings by slowly moving the crystal under a fixed laser focus. The nanograting orientation is adjusted by laser polarization and the accumulation effect. PACS 81.16.Rf; 78.67.-n; 33.80.Rv; 82.53.Mj; 81.16.-c     

Common-path double-pass optical interferometry using a wire-grid polarizer as a reference mirror

A novel common-path double-pass optical interferometer that employs a wire-grid polarizer (WGP) as a reference mirror is presented. When a laser beam polarized at 45° relative to the wire grid is incident on the WGP, the polarization component parallel to the grid direction (s-polarized beam) is reflected and is used as a reference beam. The perpendicular component (p-polarized beam) passes through the WGP coupled with a quarter-wave plate and serves as a probe beam, with its polarization transformed as p, right-circular, s, left-circular, and p, to irradiate the sample surface twice in order to double the phase change due to displacement of the sample. This beam is then retransmitted through the WGP, where it recombines and interferes with the reference beam. Preliminary experiments demonstrate that the WGP performs successfully as a reference mirror, and that the interferometer has a potential displacement sensitivity as low as 0.1 nm.     

Laser generation of acoustic waves at a periodic domain structure in lithium niobate

Generation of coherent acoustic oscillations due to the interaction of laser pulses with the periodic domain structure formed in a lithium niobate single crystal is observed. It is found that the excitation of acoustic waves is most efficient when the generated wavelength is equal to the period of the domain structure. The proposed mechanism of the optical generation of acoustic oscillations consists of the photogeneration of free carriers, which compensate the polarization fields within the domains, and the occurrence of alternating elastic stresses caused by the piezoelectric effect.     

紫外激光诱导近化学计量比钽酸锂晶体铁电畴反转

对紫外激光诱导近化学计量比钽酸锂晶体铁电畴反转进行了实验研究。波长为351 nm的连续紫外激光被聚焦在近化学计量比钽酸锂晶体的-z表面,同时沿与晶体自发极化相反的方向施加均匀外电场。实验证实紫外激光辐照可以有效地降低晶体畴反转所需的矫顽电场,采用数字全息干涉测量技术检测证实在激光辐照区域实现局域畴反转。研究表明采用紫外激光诱导可以实现对近化学计量比钽酸锂晶体铁电畴反转的局域控制。提出了物理机理的理论分析,认为外电场和激光辐照场的共同作用在晶体内部产生高浓度、大尺寸的缺陷结构,缺陷一定程度上降低畴体成核和畴壁运动所需要克服的退极化能和畴壁能,实现激光诱导畴反转。     

Threshold fluence for domain reversal directly induced by femtosecond laser in lithium niobate

Fabricating domain reversal directly induced by femtosecond laser is a novel and promising method to induce micron-period or even submicron-period inverted domain structure for it averts the domain spreading and mergence which is hard to avoid by traditional electric-field poling method. In this paper, the domain reversal process in lithium niobate crystal by irradiation of femtosecond pulses whose spatial and temporal distributions are taken into consideration is numerically simulated in the framework of Fahy’s model. The simulation results manifest the domain inversion window theory and predict the threshold reversal fluence. The experiment to form domain reversal via direct illumination with femtosecond laser in Y-cut lithium niobate samples was conducted at room temperature. The multi-ring-like structures on the processed samples tally with the inversion window theory and the calculated threshold reversal fluence is well within the scope obtained by simulation, which serves as a corroborative evidence to prove the domain reversals can be formed by direct irradiation with femtosecond laser in lithium niobate.     

Polarization properties in two wave mixing with moving grating in photorefractive BSO crystals. Application to dynamic interferometry

The polarization properties of the volume gratings in photorefractive B₁₂SiO₂₀ crystals permit to increase the contrast and signal to noise ratio in the image plane of a large size vibrating object structure. The experiment is based on the nearly degenerate two wave mixing of a pump beam with a low intensity signal beam due to the object structure (moving grating recording with an externally applied field in the 110 crystallographic direction). For a correct orientation of the incident recording beam polarizations, the pump beam emerging from the crystal is linearly polarized, while the signal, after two beam coupling is elliptically polarized. The selective attenuation of the direct pump and scattered beams is obtained with a polarizer. Improved contrasts in the interferogram plane of the vibrating object are demonstrated.     

Femtosecond pulse laser-induced self-organized nanostructures on the surface of ZnO crystal

This paper reports self-organized nanostructures observed on the surface of ZnO crystal after irradiation by a focused beam of a femtosecond Ti：sapphire laser with a repetition rate of 250kHz. For a linearly polarized femtosecond laser, the periodic nanograting structure on the ablation crater surface was promoted. The period of self-organization structures is about 180 nm. The grating orientation is adjusted by the laser polarization direction. A long range Bragglike grating is formed by moving the sample at a speed of 10μm/s. For a circularly polarized laser beam, uniform spherical nanoparticles were formed as a result of Coulomb explosion during the interaction of near-infrared laser with ZnO crystal.     

液晶稳态和瞬态多波混频与非线性光学特性

在掺杂（～3%重量比）碳纳米管和光敏取向基团的向列态液晶薄膜（5μm厚）中，在使用Ar⁺(514.5nm)为激发光做前向多波混频实验时，观察到7级的自衍射和探测光He-N e(632.8nm )的多级衍射均呈多环状结构.高斯光束中心处的光致非线性折射率系数δn～0.8. Ar⁺ (514.5nm)连续光形成光栅的时间和弛豫时间都与写入光的偏振态强烈相关.在使用Nd :YAG（532 nm）为激发光时，光栅的弛豫时间～200ms量级，且探测光He-Ne(632.8nm)的o光和e光所探 测到的动力学响应曲线是不同的. 关键词： 瞬态 稳态 多波混频 液晶     

激光偏振编码制导中铌酸锂晶体编码技术研究

针对激光驾束制导系统光束能量调制方式的原理缺陷,讨论了用铌酸锂晶体的电光效应实现空间偏振编码的原理。对铌酸锂晶体的电光效应进行了理论分析,在此基础上设计了基于普科尔效应的空间偏振编码调制器。确定了X轴方向加电场的最佳运用方式,使得经过编码器后的线偏振光具有理想的偏振态梯度分布。对接收数据处理方式进行了讨论,得到了差和比方式对旋转不敏感的结论。在实验室中用可见光进行了近场实验,获得了从最上方近似右旋圆偏振光到中间的线偏振光再到最下方的左旋圆偏振光的偏振态分布。实验曲线表明获得了与理论计算基本一致的结果。