Colossal optical nonlinearity induced by a low frequency external electric field in dye-doped liquid crystals.
We report on the effects of a low-frequency electric field on the optical nonlinear response of thin dye-doped liquid crystal cells. Experimental data show that the external field allows reaching extremely high values of the optical nonlinearity without any critical control of the cell interfaces. A qualitative interpretation of the collected data, based on the light-induced modulation of the bulk voltage through surface modifications, is proposed.
Lucchetti
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Gentili
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Simoni
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