Slow light using wave mixing in liquid crystal light valve

By performing optical two-wave mixing in a liquid crystal light valve, we are able to slow down optical pulses to group velocities as slow as a few tenths of mm/s, corresponding to a very large group index. We present experiment and model of the slow light process occurring in liquid crystal light valves. The large group index corresponds to having a large sensitivity for phase variations, a property that can be used to increase the sensitivity of Fourier transform interferometer. We show that when a liquid crystal light valve is inserted in a Mach–Zehnder interferometer, the effect of frequency perturbations at the input of the system is amplified by a factor related to the group delay.     

Effect of an ultrasonic field on the structure of a cholesteric liquid crystal

A spatially modulated structure arising in a layer of a cholesteric liquid crystal under the effect of an ultrasonic wave is studied theoretically. The structure is described on the basis of the equations of fluid dynamics for cholesteric liquid crystals. The equations are represented in terms of the angular variables. An anisotropic term caused by the relaxation of the orientational order parameter is introduced into the stress expressions. The results of calculations are compared with experimental data.     

Formation and structure of a soliton in an antiferroelectric liquid crystal in an electric field

The soliton structure in an antiferroelectric liquid crystal in an electric field is calculated in the discrete phenomenological Landau model for phase transitions. The anticlinic structure of the antiferroelectric crystal gives rise to nontrivial features of the soliton structure and the stability of the soliton. The soliton is topologically stable in a metastable state if the electric field is much higher than the field of antiferroelectric-helix unwinding. A structural transition with a step-like change in the orientation of molecules occurs as the soliton field varies. A peculiar soliton (synclinic pair) can be formed if the barrier between the anti- and ferroelectric structures is large. The calculation shows the possibility of a large electroclinic effect in the soliton, i.e., a variation in the molecular tilt angle in an electric field in the vicinity of the transition of the structure to the synclinic state.     

Peculiarities of light propagation in chiral liquid crystal cells in an external electric field

We investigate the propagation of the extraordinary ray in a cell with a chiral liquid crystal at oblique incidence. For a 180° twist cell, we study the dependence of the minimum incidence angle at which the light does not yet pass through the cell on the applied voltage. The orientational structure of a liquid crystal in an external electric field has been calculated by directly minimizing the free energy. This has allowed the ray trajectories and the limiting refraction angles to be determined. The results of our calculations are consistent with the experiment. We show that allowance for the electric field nonuniformity in a chiral system is important for agreement between theory and experiment.     

Electric field effect on refraction of light in a layer of chiral liquid crystal with large pitch

The effect of an alternating electric field on the trajectory of an extraordinary light wave in a layer of a chiral liquid crystal with a 180° turn of the director is studied. In this structure, in the absence of the field and at a large angle of incidence of the light wave on the liquid crystal layer, the light undergoes refraction inside the layer. It is shown that the deformation of the director that arises under the action of the electric field changes the character of refraction of the extraordinary wave and the layer begins to transmit the light. The threshold voltage of this effect is determined. The dynamics of the effect is studied. At large voltages, in addition to the extraordinary wave, an ordinary light wave is observed in the light passed through the cell. The ordinary wave intensity is modulated by the initial frequency of the control signal, whereas the extraordinary wave intensity is modulated by the double initial frequency.     

Slow and fast light in liquid crystal light valves

We show that fast and slow light results from multiple scatterings in a liquid crystal light valve, where nondegenerate two-wave mixing occurs in the Raman-Nath regime of optical diffraction. The large nonlinear response and dispersive characteristics of the liquid crystals allow us to obtain group velocities as slow as less than 0.2 mm/s, which is attractive for the realization of ultrahigh precision interferometers and metrology measurements.     

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)     

Stable localization of atoms in a standing light wave field

We demonstrate theoretically that atoms can be localized (trapped) for a long time in the minima of a periodic potential produced by a strong standing light wave when they are irradiated additionally by a weak traveling or standing light wave which cools atoms in the potential wells.     

Instability of a cholesteric liquid crystal in an ultrasonic field

A new approach to the analysis of orientation instability of a cholesteric liquid crystal in an ultrasonic field is substantiated experimentally. The approach employs the ideas of nonequilibrium hydrodynamics and takes account of the relaxational properties of the mesophase. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 63, No. 11, 866–870 (10 June 1996)     

Self-organized periodic photonic structure in a nonchiral liquid crystal

A hybrid-aligned cell of the smectic A liquid material 8CB gives two stable director configurations, one of which is periodic and gives strong diffraction of light. This photonic lattice director profile arises from "frustration" caused by conflicting constraints imposed by the boundary conditions and the constant amplitude smectic density wave. A model is proposed which accords well with the experiment results, predicting correctly the dependence of the periodicity on the cell thickness and reproducing optical polarization microscopy results.     

Modulation transfer function of a liquid crystal spatial light modulator

The modulation transfer function (MTF) of a pixelated liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LC-SLM) has been derived as a function of the fill factor. Based on the formula, we have investigated the dependence of the MTF on the orientations and spatial frequency of the input patterns. Furthermore, we have proposed and demonstrated a method for improving the MTF of a LC-SLM.     

LC-SLM像素型结构对4f脉冲整形系统的影响

液晶空间光调制器的离散型相位调制和像素间隙是4f脉冲整形系统的主要失真原因,基于以上因素的分析,建立了完善的4f脉冲整形系统数学模型,数值模拟了不同相位调制变化率、不同像元尺寸、不同间隙尺寸以及不同色散关系下的离散型相位调制和像素间隙导致的失真情况。模拟结果表明：离散型相位调制会导致整形脉冲中出现副本脉冲,相位调制变化率越大或像元尺寸越大均会导致这种副本脉冲越强,输出目标脉冲失真越严重;像素间隙也会导致整形脉冲中出现副本脉冲,间隙尺寸越大会导致这种副本脉冲越强,输出目标脉冲失真越严重;两种副本脉冲均呈等间隔分布,其周期由每个像元对应的频谱宽度决定,非线性光谱色散会使副本脉冲啁啾化且强度变小。     

Deflection of resonant multilevel particles in a standing wave light field

We study the deflection of an atomic system with a resonant multilevel energy structure in classical and quantized wave light fields. We obtain that the shape of the momentum distribution is very sensitive to the energy level structure, whereas its moments are not. Comparison with a two-level case is made.     

LC-SLM像素型结构对4f脉冲整形系统的影响

液晶空间光调制器的离散型相位调制和像素间隙是4f脉冲整形系统的主要失真原因,基于以上因素的分析,建立了完善的4f脉冲整形系统数学模型,数值模拟了不同相位调制变化率、不同像元尺寸、不同间隙尺寸以及不同色散关系下的离散型相位调制和像素间隙导致的失真情况。模拟结果表明:离散型相位调制会导致整形脉冲中出现副本脉冲,相位调制变化率越大或像元尺寸越大均会导致这种副本脉冲越强,输出目标脉冲失真越严重;像素间隙也会导致整形脉冲中出现副本脉冲,间隙尺寸越大会导致这种副本脉冲越强,输出目标脉冲失真越严重;两种副本脉冲均呈等间隔分布,其周期由每个像元对应的频谱宽度决定,非线性光谱色散会使副本脉冲啁啾化且强度变小。     

Time evolution of atomic inversion in a standing wave light field

The interaction between an atomic beam of two-level atoms and a standing wave light field has been studied by the exact solution of a time-dependent quantum system developed recently. When the initial atomic state is choosen to be ground, we find that with the limit of zero detuning the atoms will oscillate between the upper and the lower levels with a decaying amplitude. The most interesting result obtained in this paper is when the initial atomic state is a particular superposition of the two levels, now the system does not oscillate at any time.     

Electric convection in a nematic liquid crystal in a varying electric field

The emergence of electric convection in a nematic liquid crystal under the action of a varying electric field is analyzed in the 1D approximation. A new mode of external field variation with subharmonic oscillations is proposed. The behavior of several classes of synchronous perturbations and subharmonic oscillations is analyzed; the evolution of the fields of the director and of the volume charge is studied. Parametric instability regions are specified and the critical frequencies of transitions between response modes are determined. Stability maps for a nematic liquid crystal are plotted on the frequency-amplitude plane.