title: Effective photochromic nonlinearity of dried blue-membrane bacteriorhodopsin films.
abstract: We report the effective nonlinearity for photochromic conversion in a blue-membrane bacteriorhodopsin film hosted in a dry polyvinyl alcohol matrix. The shift in absorption maximum on photoconversion in this film is larger than that of the same material in hydrated form, thus offering a larger modulation of the refractive index. The photoexcited index modulation is stable for several months, which provides for holographic data recording and long-term photochromic data storage. The effective index modulation is experimentally measured and is in good agreement with the theoretical predictions based on the Kramers-Kronig transformation.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tallent
authors.forename: Q W
authors.initials: QW
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stuart
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Birge