Synthesis and properties of high tilted antiferroelectric esters with partially fluorinated alkoxyalkoxy terminal chains

Novel chiral esters with partially fluorinated alkoxyalkoxy terminal chains are described. Their phase transition temperatures, enthalpies, and electrooptical properties are reported. A helical pitch in pure compounds and their mixtures based on selective reflection of light is also characterized.     

Polarization analyzers operating in a wide spectral range

Different versions of practical realization of customary optical systems for full measurement of the polarization state of quasi-monochromatic partially polarized light are considered. They can be used to overcome measurement difficulties associated with the finite width of the spectral range being studied. The effect of changes in characteristics of optical and polarization elements over a spectral range on the character of polarization measurements is analyzed. Methods for elimination of chromatism or taking into account its effect on measurements are suggested. Relations for taking into account the effect of chromatism of a phase plate with constant thickness on measurement results are given. Operation of a classical four-channel scheme for studing quasi-monochromatic partially polarized light in the visible and near-IR regions is considered. For this system, expressions are derived which make possible determination of Stokes parameters taking into account the effect of a finite spectral range. A system using phase modulation of radiation by an electrooptical cell and measurement of the maximum and minimum intensities of the modulated signal is considered. Measurements are carried out by using a two-channel system. Expressions are derived which make possible determination of Stokes parameters for the system under consideration in the visible and near-IR spectral regions. A system for measuring the polarization state of radiation in the visible and near-IR regions and based on modulation of radiation by an electrooptical phase cell is described. Measurements are carried out for the fundamental modulation frequency and its harmonics using a two-channel scheme. Relations for determining Stokes parameters of the system are presented.     

Bistable switching in chiral nematic liquid crystal layers with a 2π-twist ground state

We present experimental evidence and theoretical justification for the phenomenon of bistable electrooptical switching in nematic liquid crystals doped with chiral compounds so that the ground state corresponds to a 360° helical twist of the director. The system exhibits switching between the ground and a metastable unwound states. The observed effect differs from the well-known Berreman-Heffner bistable switching by the absence of a topologically nonequivalent ground state of the liquid crystal layer with a 180° twist of the director.     

Evolution of the gas-puff Z-pinch column

The evolution of a neon implosion of low energy discharge (4 kJ, 40 kV, 150 kA, 1.1 μs) was studied using X-ray, schlieren, and high speed electrooptical visible gated quadro camera diagnostics. The geometry, an helical structure of pinched column, two steps of pinching, and X-ray emission have been studied. The hypothesis of an axial component of magnetic field generation, the helical shape of the magnetic and electric field lines, and the release of magnetic energy during the second pinching of the column are discussed     

Influence of a helical pitch on orthoconic antiferroelectric liquid crystals performance

Orthoconic antiferroelectric liquid crystals, whose half cone angle is 45°, are of interest in display technology because they are capable of providing greyscale in passively addressing waveform while exhibiting very good contrast. However, orthoconic antiferroelectrics having short pitch are difficult to be aligned, this makes surface stabilized alignment unfeasible. In this case, dynamic behaviour is usually poor, avoiding electronic addressing with standard electronics. In this work, we report the helical pitch measurements of OAFLC mixtures and we compare electrooptical performance of high and low pitch OAFLCs.     

Trends in the spectral distribution of the absorption coefficient of complex organic molecules

General trends in formation of the observed vibrational spectra are analyzed by calculating spectral distributions of the absorption coefficient in the IR region for 45 molecules of different classes ignoring the electrooptical paramaters of particular bonds and structural groups. It is shown that for many molecules, only vibrations of peripheral X-H bonds make a prevailing contribution to the total integral absorption in a wide spectral range. The effect of increasing intensities of some bands is clearly observed for skeleton vibrations, when optical parameters of external X-H bonds are zero. V. I. Vernadski Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 19, Kosygin St., Moscow, 117975, Russia. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 65, No. 4, pp. 491–496, July–August, 1998.     

新颖的PPLN电光开关

在分析基于级联二阶非线性效应的准相位匹配周期极化铌酸锂(PPLN)波导全光波长变换器的有关参量容限的基础上,提出PPLN波长变换器的电光调控设想,并给予简要论证,论证结果是可行的,从而可实施电控调谐来自动补偿其失配,进而也可实现光开关的功能 关键词： 准相位匹配 周期极化铌酸锂 波长变换 光开关 电光效应调控     

Experimental study of a textural transition in liquid crystals under shear stress induced by surface friction

Results of a study of the optical response of liquid crystals with helical supramolecular structure to surfacefriction-induced shear stress in aerodynamic experiments are reported. The effect of re-orientation of molecules from confocal (light-scattering) to planar (selectively reflecting light) texture is considered. The textural transition is examined by the spectral and colorimetric methods. Dependences of the reflection spectra of the formed planar texture on time and on the mean shear-stress level were obtained. It is shown that the dependence of the texture transition time on the shear-stress level can be approximated, in a logarithmic scale, with a linear dependence; this allows using the effect for flow diagnostics.     

Excimer state of a conjugate polymer (MEH-PPV) in liquid solutions

The conjugated polymer poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) is an important electrooptical material, which is useable as an excellent laser media. In this paper, we present the absorption and fluorescence spectral characteristics of MEH-PPV in a few organic solvents. The paper shows that MEH-PPV exists in an excimeric state in benzene, and that the laser action as shown here arises from a liquid excimeric state.     

280mm×280mm口径单脉冲过程电光开关

用于高功率惯性约束聚变(ICF)激光驱动器的大口径电光开关均采用等离子体电极泡克耳斯盒。与传统的等离子体电极电光开关原理不同,单脉冲过程驱动电光开关没有独立的大电流等离子体发生单元,而只是通过具有较高幅值的正负开关脉冲完成对大口径电光开关的驱动。介绍单脉冲过程驱动等离子体电极泡克耳斯盒电光开关的设计,并建立280 mm×280 mm口径电光开关实验平台,利用连续激光器测试了电光开关特性,实验测得该电光开关中心处开关效率为99.3%,开关上升时间为90 ns。     

Modifying electrooptics of orthoconic antiferroelectric liquid crystal cells by manufacturing procedures

Orthoconic antiferroelectric liquid crystals (AFLCs) having 45° tilt angle have been proposed to overcome the problem of reduced contrast usually exhibited by regular antiferroelectric displays. However, the pitch of the helix induced by chirality is customarily short in existing orthoconic materials, making it difficult to achieve surface stabilized configurations when the material’s pitch is smaller than the cell thickness. In this work, the influence of different manufacturing procedures on the electrooptical behaviour of orthoconic AFLCs is studied. Using the same orthoconic AFLC mixture, aligning surfaces and manufacturing protocol, we have observed two dissimilar responses, true orthoconic behaviour, and orthoconic V-shape response. The electrooptical response depends ultimately on the rubbing strategy adopted in either case.     

Absorption properties of one- and two-dimensional semiconductor nanocrystals in the presence of an electric field

We have considered the broadening of optical absorption spectra of ensembles of randomly oriented nanorods and nanoplatelets that is caused by the action of a static electric field. It has been found that the linewidth in the spectra of the considered nanocrystals depends nonlinearly on the field strength and attains saturation in fields on the order of 100 kV/cm. We show that, due to a weak confinement, the electrooptical response of nanoplatelets is stronger than that of nanorods, which leads to a number of distinctive features in the field-induced broadening of the spectra of nanoplatelets and gives grounds to state that nanoplatelets are the most promising objects for use in electrooptical devices.     

Effective room-temperature broad-band recording of 3D dynamic holograms in CdF<Subscript>2</Subscript>:Ga crystals

Photochromic CdF₂:Ga crystals with bistable impurity centers were effectively used for the dynamic recording of holograms and readout over the visible and near IR spectral regions at spatial frequencies of up to 5000 mm^?1 at room temperature. The diffraction efficiency of the dynamic holograms was as high as 60% at maximum and exceeded 1% when the beams’ intensities were in the ratio 1:100. As one goes from the low temperatures (≤200 K) to 300 K, the peak diffraction efficiency of the dynamic holograms decreases approximately by a factor of 1.5, while the speed of their response and photosensitivity in the long-wavelength spectral region increases by more than an order of magnitude. For the sake of comparison, the dynamic holograms were recorded under the same conditions as the widely used electrooptical SBN crystals. Comparative analysis ascertained a unique combination of the useful features offered by CdF₂:Ga crystals in holography.     

Measurements of Time-Varying Characteristics of Optical Signals and Inhomogeneities of Tested Substances with Additional Phase Modulation

The problem of investigation of the amplitude and phase structure of a time-varying probing optical signal and the structure of time-varying inhomogeneities of a substance tested by this signal is considered. The analysis is concerned, in particular, with determination of the structure of signals and processes with resolution in the pico- and femtosecond range. The scheme used for the analysis is based on registration of four spatially separated spectra of the studied radiation. The spectra are formed in a four-channel scheme with a twin-wave Michelson interferometer and a spectral device. Modulators based on electrooptical crystals (perovskites) are placed in the channels. The sum spectra are formed: without modulators, with the effect of either of the modulators, and with both of them affecting the radiation. The effect of the studied substance implies either modulating the radiation (in this case it is described by multiplication) or redistributing the radiation (then it is described by convolution).     

Does human skin truly behave as an array of helical antennae in the millimeter and terahertz wave ranges?

The sweat ducts of the human perspiration system are helically shaped tubes, filled with a conductive aqueous solution. Recent studies have claimed that these ducts act as an array of low-Q helical antennae and are dominant in shaping the spectral response in the subterahertz region. Using local homogenization theory for the skin embedded with sweat ducts, we found that multiple interference effects from the skin layers play the major role in determining the skin electromagnetic characteristics in the millimeter and terahertz regions without the need for the assumption of the sweat ducts acting as low-Q helical antennae.     

Reflecting phase volume holographic grating (PVHG) in LiNbO3

The spectral-angular selectivity of reflecting PVHG in LiNbO 3 and electric control of light diffraction are investigated. It is shown that a PVHG with approximate 7000 lines/mmand thickness spatial frequency 3.7mmhas a spectral selectivity 0.023 nm and angular selectivity that varies in the range from 2 to 50 ang. min, depending on the angle between the beams that record the grating. Application of an 850 V electric field decreases the diffraction effectiveness by one-half for an extraordinary wave and a transverse scheme (the transverse dimension of the PVHG is 5 mm). It is established that the spectral-angular characteristics of reflecting PVHG and electric control of light diffraction can be described within the framework of the theory of coupled wave and the electrooptical effect.Translated from Lazernye Sistemy, pp. 112–120, 1982.     

An active interference projector for the electro-optical test facility

A projection system is described which can simulate emissions from flares, muzzleflashes, shellbursts, and other emissive agents which may degrade the performance of electrooptical systems in the 0.5–15 μm spectral range. The simulation capability obtained will allow the apparent radiance and temporal characteristics of muzzleflashes and shellbursts to be mimicked at simulated ranges as close as 23 m within the Electro-Optical Test Facility. This demonstrates that tests of electro-optical system performance in the presence of interferers can be performed under laboratory conditions with higher repeatability and lower cost than field tests.     

Temporal electrical response of chiral smectic liquid crystal displays with V/W-shaped electrooptical characteristic

Chiral smectic liquid crystal cells showing V-shaped electrooptical switching have been reported as one of the most promising technologies for high-end display applications. In this work, time-resolved electrical behaviour of these devices has been obtained through a set of systematic measurements. The electrical equivalent circuit has been derived, a number of simulations at different frequencies have been performed using commercial software for analogue circuits. Performance of this electrical model to account for time domain variations of switching currents in chiral smectic LC displays with V/W-shaped electrooptical response has been analyzed as well.     

Nonlinear optical ferroelectric liquid crystals and device configurations

Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals (FLCs) are presented which comprise charge-transfer functional groups, such that highly efficient NonLinear Optical (NLO) properties and pronounced ferroelectricity result. By operating the NLO-FLCs in one of the two Bistable states of the Short-pitch Ferroelectric (SPF) conformation, stable, planar waveguides result. The NLO-FLCs exhibit exceptionally large second-order NLO-coefficientsd ₂₂ = 5 pm/V. Moreover, their linear electrooptical effect is shown to be essentially electronic in nature. This renders ultrafast electrooptical modulators with NLO-FLCs feasible.     

On the phenomenological theory of the linear electrooptical effect in uniaxial crystals

The linear electrooptical effect in uniaxial crystals is considered with the aid of direct tensor methods. Covariant expressions for finding biradials and ray refractive indices are developed. A general expression is derived relating the nonlinear optical polarizability parameters and the electrooptical properties of a crystal. The results are applied to cuts of uniaxial ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP), potassium dihydrogen phosphate (PDP), and quartz crystals often used for light modulation. The induced phase differences between the light waves propagating in such crystals are found for the field orientations considered.