Higher-order diffraction images in photorefractive materials

We report some photorefractive higher-order diffraction phenomena of a liquid crystal polymer composite. The photorefractive composite consists of the polymer poly[N-vinylcarbazole] (PVK) doped with the chromophore 4,4′-n-entylcyanobiphenyl (5CB) and the sensitizer C₆₀. In two-wave coupling experiments, the signal beam was interfered by a mutually coherent reference beam within composite materials at a small incident angle. Results are given when the composite was placed behind the focal plane, in front of the focal plane, and in the focal plane. Higher-order diffraction images were obtained by amplification and reduction. A theory of the properties of higher-order diffraction images in a photorefractive liquid crystal polymer composite is developed. The theory is in good agreement with the results of experimental work. The experiments demonstrate the feasibility of optical image processing.     

液晶衍射现象的实验研究

研究了液晶光学器件的衍射现象,实验表明,在一定的电压区间,出射光会出现周期性结构的衍射图样,探讨了这种衍射与液晶结构之间的关系以及各衍射光斑的偏振特性.     

Anisotropic diffraction of stratified volume holographic grating in photorefractive media

We have studied the anisotropic diffraction properties of the stratified volume holographic gratings recorded in photorefractive media using the anisotropic coupled wave theory. It is shown that the diffraction efficiency of such system exhibit the uniform periodic Bragg selectivity properties. In addition the dependence of the stratified volume holographic optical elements (SVHOEs) diffraction properties on the buffer-layer thickness, grating-layer thickness, number of modulation layers, and total thickness of system are discussed in detail.     

Temporal behavior of spatial solitons in centrosymmetric photorefractive crystals

We investigate theoretically the time behavior of spatial solitons in biased centrosymmetric photorefractive crystals. A one-dimensional time-dependent wave propagation equation in biased centrosymmetric photorefractive crystals is presented. It is shown that the bright solitons exist in both quasi-steady-state and steady-state regimes for high saturation values. When the intensity ratio is smaller than unity, the bright soliton width decreases monotonically to a minimum value toward steady state. Moreover, the time-dependent nonlinear wave equation exhibits only steady-state screening dark spatial solitons.     

Output behavior based on writing occupancy in a photorefractive converter

In this paper, a one-dimensional image distribution is stored as modulation of birefringence in a BSO photorefractive crystal in an incoherent to coherent converter arrangement. The features of the read-out image under different write-in image magnifications of an input object are analyzed. In particular, characteristic parameters are introduced to assess the feasibility of an adequate recognition of the converted image. Experimental results under extinction configuration obtained by using intensity-normalized images are described.     

High diffraction efficiency and a quasi-permanent grating in photorefractive nematic liquid crystal at low temperature

At a temperature lower than the melting point of pure pentyl-cyanobiphenyl liquid crystal (5CB) we studied the photorefractive effect of 5CB heavily doped with fullerene (C60) and obtained a diffraction efficiency of the photorefractive grating of more than 40%, which is more than twice as high as the best data reported to our knowledge. A quasi-permanent grating was observed with a diffraction efficiency of 11.2% after the grating was kept in the dark for a month.     

Testing of linear polarizer using photorefractive effect

A new method is developed to test linear polarizers using two-wave mixing in photorefractive Bi₁₂TiO₂₀ (Bismuth Titanium Oxide, BTO). The extinction ratios obtained from this method was comparable with the literature values and the method is also useful for qualitative analysis of linear polarizers. Detailed theoretical and experimental analysis is given in the paper.     

Asymmetric dynamic phase holographic grating in nematic liquid crystal

A new scheme for recording a dynamic phase grating with an asymmetric profile in C60-doped homeotropically aligned nematic liquid crystal(NLC) was presented.An oblique incidence beam was used to record the thin asymmetric dynamic phase holographic grating.The diffraction efficiency we achieved is more than 40%,exceeding the theoretical limit for symmetric profile gratings.Both facts can be explained by assuming that a grating with an asymmetric saw-tooth profile is formed in the NLC.Finally,physical mechanism and mathematical model for characterizing the asymmetric phase holographic grating were presented,based on the photo-refractive-like(PR-like) effect.     

Controllable switching behavior of optical Tamm state based on nematic liquid crystal

The controllable behavior of optical Tamm state (OTS) is investigated in a heterostructure with nematic liquid crystal (NLC). By changing the external fields (electric field and temperature), the orientation of NLC’s molecules can be modified. It offers us an effective way to control the optical properties of the optical Tamm state. We obtain the critical condition for the appearance of the optical Tamm state. Our theoretical analysis and numerical simulations show that through choosing appropriate parameters we can not only change the frequency position of the optical Tamm state, but also realize the disappearance of the OTS.     

扭曲向列相液晶电光效应的研究

分析了扭曲向列相液晶的电光效应.采用溴钨灯作为光源,运用光栅单色仪选择380~1 100 nm波段的光进行照射,测量在0~8 V电压条件下扭曲向列相液晶对于不同波长入射光的透射率.     

Incoherently coupled bright-dark photovoltaic soliton pairs based on two-photon photorefractive effect

The coupling of two mutually incoherent optical beams with the same polarization and wavelength in two-photon photovoltaic photorefractive crystal is studied, it is predicted theoretically that incoherently coupled bright-dark photovoltaic spatial soliton pairs are possible due to two-photon photorefractive effect. The existing conditions of these soliton pairs in the crystal are discussed in detail. The intensity profile of these soliton pairs is shown by numerical calculation under the parameters of relevant crystal.     

向列相液晶中弱光引致各向异性衍射图样的研究

研究了弱线偏振光(≈0.16 W/cm²)通过垂直排列C₆₀掺杂的向列相液晶(5CB)薄膜的远场衍射图样.基于取向光折变机理,二波耦合使液晶分子进行二次取向之后,强度为高斯分布的光束通过样品时将形成高斯分布的空间电荷场,偏振光束通过样品时将产生偏振衍射图样.衍射图样的轮廓是同心圆环,在垂直于光的偏振方向有对称缺口.改变入射光的偏振方向可以看到衍射图样也随之改变, 有效非线性折射率系数n₂≈0.3cm²/W 关键词： 向列相液晶 取向光折变效应 自相位调制 衍射图样     

Influence of surroundings on photorefractive effect in lithium niobate crystals

In the paper results of the investigation of the influence of electric properties of the environment surrounding LiNbO₃ crystals on photorefractive effect induced in these crystals by Gaussian Ar⁺ laser beam with various intensities are presented. We show spatial and temporal dependences of changes of the refractive index obtained experimentally in LiNbO₃: Fe and LiNbO₃: Fe:Mn samples surrounded by media with different electric conductivities and different permittivities (water, air, water solution of CaCl₂). The space and time dependences of the refractive index changes induced by the Ar⁺ laser beam are observed by means of the Mach–Zehnder interferometer using light from HeNe laser. The experimentally obtained results are in a good agreement with those following from numerical calculations using the manifold mirroring method. The agreement between calculated and experimental results indicates that the polarization charge at the photorefractive crystal/surrounding medium boundary significantly influences the photorefractive process in the crystal. The experimentally observed slow spontaneous decrease of the refractive index change in a sample placed into a slightly conducting medium (air) after switching off the beam also indicates that the polarization charge in the sample's surroundings affects the photorefraction.     

Plasmonic all-optical bistable device based on nematic liquid crystal

Low-power all-optical bistable liquid crystal (LC) devices are reported in which surface plasmons propagate along a metallic grating. The threshold switching illumination was 1.4 mW/mm² in the device with the twisted-nematic LC cell. This is a lower value than for all-optical bistable devices reported previously. This low-power bistability device can be used in two-dimensional optical memories or spatial light modulators.     

光栅衍射像的反差,位相和周期的分析

本文从理论上导出了相干光照明了菲涅耳衍射场中离开泰伯自成像平面时光栅像的反差、位相和周期的变化。得到了球面波和平面波照明下,光栅的傅里叶像生成的条件,从而定量地说明了泰伯效应与Lau效应的某种一致性。理论结果被实验验证。     

Influence of the volume speckle on fiber specklegram sensors based on four-wave mixing in photorefractive materials

In this work, the dependence on the speckle size in the performance of a micro displacement sensor based on fiber specklegrams stored in a photorefractive BSO (Bi₁₂SiO₂₀) crystal is experimentally demonstrated. In our experimental setup, a plastic optical fiber (POF) was used to generate a subjective speckle pattern which was recorded in the crystal by using a four-wave mixing arrangement in transmission geometry. The speckle size was controlled by modifying the diameter of a pupil aperture adjacent to a lens producing the image of the speckle. The signal speckle beam was mixed into the crystal with two counter propagating pump beams to generate a fourth beam which is proportional to the conjugate of the original speckle beam. Real time fringe patterns were obtained at the output of the system by producing micro displacements of the fiber output end. Increases of the phase conjugation reflectivity and the visibility of the fringe patterns were appreciated when the speckle length was increased by decreasing the pupil aperture diameter. This behavior allowed recovering the autocorrelation functions of fringe patterns associated to micro displacements that initially led to decorrelation, and therefore, to improve the dynamic range of the metrological system. Until the best of our knowledge this is the first report about the influence of the speckle size on fiber specklegrams sensors recorded on photorefractive materials by four-wave mixing.     

Optical image conversion and encryption by diffraction,phase retrieval algorithm and incoherent superposition

In this paper, an optical encryption system is proposed based on tricolor principle, Fresnel diffraction, and phase iterative algorithms. Different from the traditional encryption system, the encrypted image of this system is a color image and the plaintext of it is a gray image, which can achieve the combination of a color image and a gray image and the conversion of one image to another image. Phase masks can be generated by using the phase iterative algorithms in this paper. The six phase masks and the six diffracting distances are all essential keys in the process of decryption, which can greatly enhance the system security. Numerical simulations are shown to prove the possibility and safety of the method.     

Improvement of the dynamic range of a fiber specklegram sensor based on volume speckle recording in photorefractive materials

In this work, the improvement of the dynamic range of a micro displacement sensor based on fiber specklegrams holographically stored in a photorefractive BSO (Bi₁₂SiO₂₀) crystal is reported. In our experimental setup, a plastic optical fiber (POF) was used to generate a subjective speckle pattern that was recorded in the crystal using a two-wave mixing arrangement. The speckle size was controlled by modifying the diameter of a pupil aperture adjacent to a lens producing the image of the speckle. Fringe patterns were obtained at the output of the system by producing micro displacements of the fiber output end. An increase in the visibility of the fringe patterns was appreciated when the pupil aperture diameter decreased even without controlling the average modulation of the intensity of the light pattern, i.e. when the speckle length increased and the average light modulation simultaneously decreased. This behavior allowed recovering the autocorrelation functions of fringe patterns associated with displacements that initially led to decorrelation, and therefore, significantly to improve the dynamic range of the metrological system. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report about the influence of speckle size on the dynamic range of fiber specklegrams sensors recorded on photorefractive materials.     

Study of transient photorefractive beam coupling in high- and low-molar-mass liquid crystal mixtures

We observed transient signals of Bragg grating formation in high-performance photorefractive high- and low-molar-mass liquid crystal mixtures (HL-LCMs). These transient signals including oscillation-like behavior can be explained by a complex time constant in the case of a finite applied dc field. The time constant for the space-charge field to reach its steady state and the oscillation frequency are estimated. Received: 30 October 1998 / Revised version: 14 December 1998 / Published online: 24 February 1999     

Investigation of dielectric properties and diffraction efficiency enhancements caused by photothermal effect in DR9 dye-doped nematic liquid crystal

In this work, we studied dielectric properties and laser-induced refractive index changes originating from photothermal effects of liquid crystal material doped with Disperse Red 9 (DR9) dye. Dye concentration is arranged to be between percentages changing from 0.2 wt.% to 1 wt.% in E63 nematic liquid crystal. Nonlinear optical properties such as diffraction efficiency (η) and refractive index modulation (Δn) were investigated by diffraction grating measurements. It was found the diffraction efficiency of pure E63 nematic liquid crystal is 1%. As the doping amount of DR9 dye in nematic LC is increased, diffraction efficiency took higher values and the maximum diffraction efficiency of 10% was gained with E63 doped with 0.8 wt.%DR9 dye. Moreover, dielectric permittivity and dielectric anisotropy values of the samples were investigated in the frequency range of 100 Hz-10 MHz by using dielectric spectroscopy technique. It was observed that dielectric constant values of the liquid crystal material are strongly affected by doping with dye.