Bistability in dual-frequency nematic liquid crystals

Different modes of bistable switching in liquid crystals with frequency inversion of the dielectric anisotropy sign are discussed. The study is performed by numerical simulation and experimentally. It is shown that dual frequency driving can be effectively used to control switching between topologically equivalent and non-equivalent director field distributions. The experimental results on temperature performance of the dual-frequency switching and possible driving methods for energy consumption and expanding the temperature range are presented.     

Polarization-selective switching in holographically formed polymer dispersed liquid crystals

We have developed an optical stack of holographically formed polymer dispersed liquid-crystal (H-PDLC) devices that is fully operational with nonpolarized light sources. The device consists of two H-PDLC transmission gratings separated by a passive polarization rotator that can output a diffracted s-polarized, p-polarized, or s- and p-polarized beam simultaneously.     

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.     

Polarization-controlled switching between diffraction orders in transverse-periodically aligned nematic liquid crystals

Transverse-periodic-oriented nematic liquid crystals (LCs) are a special type of optical axis grating that are capable of very high efficiency diffraction (theoretically, 100%) in thin layers of materials with thickness comparable to the radiation wavelength. In particular, they fully diffract linearly polarized input beam into circularly polarized +1st and -1st diffraction orders. We experimentally demonstrate switching between diffraction orders of such gratings when the polarization of the incident beam changes from right-circular to left-circular and vice versa with the aid of an electrically controlled LC phase retarder. Such a setup in which the diffraction efficiency and direction are controlled externally, without application of an electric field to the transverse-periodic grating, provides additional control opportunities and does not compromise the quality of the grating. The grating used in the experiment was 1.5 microm thick and had a period of 4 microm. The contrast ratio of switching between the +1st and -1st orders was as high as 267:1 for a He-Ne laser beam with a switching time of 6.6 ms.     

Bistable optical switching by the incident angle

The possibility to realize optical bistability by the incident angle to an interference modulator is considered. The experimentally observed hysteresis curves are discussed.     

Bistable optical switching based on bragg diffraction

The operation characteristics of an acousto-optics nonlinear device are presented where the diffracted light is used to create a feedback leading to hysteresis and bistability. Possible application as an optically controlled two-channel switch with a response time smaller than 1 μs is given.     

Bistable polarization switching in mutually coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We theoretically investigate the polarization-resolved dynamics of two vertical-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers that are mutually coupled through coherent optical injection. We find a sequence of bistable polarization switchings that can be induced by changing either the coupling strength or the optical propagation phase. The successive polarization switchings are correlated with the creation of new compoundcavity modes when these parameters are continuously varied.     

Specific features of the switching and electro-optics of ferroelectric liquid crystals

Polar effects in ferroelectric liquid crystals are considered. The physical principles underlying the bistable and hysteresis-free electro-optical switching are discussed. A simple physical model and a technique for controlling high-frequency hysteresis-free switching are proposed.     

Fast electro-optical switching and high contrast ratio in epoxy-based polymer dispersed liquid crystals

We report the observation of an electro-optical switching effect from an opaque to a transparent state occurring at a threshold value of the applied field in a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC). Optical responses of the composite film under the conditions of an externally applied ac electric field (2–5 V_p−p/μ) and a film thickness (50 μm), were determined using an Argon laser (wavelength 514 nm). The experimental results showed promising switching times with a rise time of 190 μs and a decay time of 2 ms and an exceptionally high contrast ratio up to 410. These results demonstrate the validity of employing this new PDLC in electro-optical devices.     

Bistable soliton states and switching in doubly inhomogeneously doped fiber couplers

Switching between the bistable soliton states in a doubly and inhomogeneously doped fiber system is studied numerically. Both the cases of lossless as well as lossy couplers are considered. It is shown that both up-switching (from the low state to the high state) and down-switching (from the high state to the low state) of solitons between bistable states are realizable, if the amplification of the input soliton for up-switching and the extraction of energy from it for down-switching are suitably adjusted.     

Polarization switching of stimulated Raman scattering in optical fibers by dual-frequency pumping

Experiments are presented showing that under dual-frequency, orthogonal-polarization pumping, stimulated Raman scattering in optical birefringent fibers can be suppressed in one of the two fiber axes. For relatively small-frequency spacing and group-velocity mismatch between the pumps, Stokes light is suppressed along the polarization direction of the highest-frequency pump, owing to the orthogonal component of the Raman gain.     

Bistable heating of solid samples immersed in liquid helium

A bistable heating of samples is found in liquid helium. Using the strong temperature dependence of the no-phonon doublet of the ⁴ T ₁(G) ⁶ A ₁(S) emission of the ZnSe:Cr⁺ centre, the temperature can be determined in the excited volume. Temperature jumps of about 5 K are recorded. The cause for the bistable crystal heating lies in the transition from the nucleate boiling to the film boiling state of the helium. In this process, the heat transfer is drastically reduced and thus the sample is further heated.     

Atomic crystals resistive switching memory

Facing the growing data storage and computing demands, a high accessing speed memory with low power and non volatile character is urgently needed. Resistive access random memory with 4F~2 cell size, switching in sub-nanosecond cycling endurances of over 10~(12) cycles, and information retention exceeding 10 years, is considered as promising nex generation non-volatile memory. However, the energy per bit is still too high to compete against static random acces memory and dynamic random access memory. The sneak leakage path and metal film sheet resistance issues hinder th further scaling down. The variation of resistance between different devices and even various cycles in the same device hold resistive access random memory back from commercialization. The emerging of atomic crystals, possessing fin interface without dangling bonds in low dimension, can provide atomic level solutions for the obsessional issues. Moreove the unique properties of atomic crystals also enable new type resistive switching memories, which provide a brand-new direction for the resistive access random memory.     

Bistable switching using an optical Tamm cavity with a Kerr medium

All-optical bistable switching is proposed to realize by using an optical Tamm cavity in which a Kerr medium is sandwiched between a metal layer and a Bragg mirror. Results show that the excitation of clockwise and counterclockwise bistable switching under the control of external optical injection is due to the presence of optical Tamm states. In addition, the bistable characteristics of optical Tamm cavities are found to be sensitive to the polarization of external optical injection.     

Bistable perpendicular switching with in-plane spin polarization and without external fields

To-date, all experiments switching perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) materials with in-plane spin polarization require external B-fields. Here, in two approaches, it is shown that with Rashba-type in-plane spin polarization and PMA, bistable switching is achievable without external B  -fields, and at currents on the order of 10⁷ A/cm²${10}^7\text{A}/{\text{cm}}^2$, consistent with recent experiments. Utilization of PMA is primarily discussed, demonstrating the potential for two possibilities: (1) in-plane polarization as a ‘natural’ candidate for precessional switching and (2) bistable switching using a tilted anisotropy axis. Both are shown to lead to stable perpendicular switching without an external B-field, even though spin polarization is in-plane.     

Ultrafast optical switching in three-dimensional photonic crystals

We present the first experimental investigation of ultrafast optical switching in a three-dimensional photonic crystal made of a Si-opal composite. Ultrafast (30 fs) changes in reflectivity around the photonic stop band up to 1% were measured for moderate pump power (70 microJ/cm(2)). Short-lived photoexcited carriers in silicon induce changes in the dielectric constant of Si and diminish the constructive interference inside the photonic crystal. The results are analyzed within a model based on a two-band mixing formalism.     

Dynamics of twist effect in a dual-frequency nematic liquid crystal

The dynamics of the electrooptical 90° twist effect in a dual-frequency nematic liquid crystal is investigated for wavelengths of 0.65 and 1.55μ m. It is shown that the boundary conditions of the interaction between the phases affect the optical threshold of the twist effect, the contrast, and the working voltage range. The switching time of the twist effect from the off to the on state upon a variation of the amplitude of a rectangular dc voltage pulse from 15 to 50 V changes from 1.5 to 0.3 ms for a thickness of the nematic crystal layer of about 7 μ m. The minimal time of switching from the “on” to the “off” state was 3 ms in the case when relaxation of molecules in a cell with asymmetric boundary conditions was controlled electrically. The dynamic range of transmittance variation at a wavelength of 1.55 μm extended to 30 dB.     

Optical response from dual-frequency hybrid-aligned nematic liquid crystal cells

Dual-frequency hybrid-aligned nematic liquid crystal cells and the influence of the parameters of a control electric field on their optical response are studied. It is found that the harmonic oscillations of the optical transmission in such cells are observed in the interval between low frequency-to-high frequency voltage switchings unlike in conventional twisted nematic cells. A V-shaped bistable optical response is obtained by successively applying sinusoidal electric fields with frequencies of 1 and 30 kHz to a twisted nematic cell. For a liquid crystal layer 8 ??m thick and an applied voltage of 50 V, the response time is 10 ms. In a hybrid-aligned twisted-nematic cell with a large initial tilt angle of the director (about 70°), the V-shaped optical response is observed when the inclined homeotropic state is switched to the twisted state by applying a 30-kHz field. The initial structure of the layer recovers as a result of natural elastic relaxation, and the response time increases roughly fourfold.