Simple way for achieving passive all-optical switching of continuous waves lasers using pure nematic liquid crystal.
We have examined pure nematic liquid crystal (LC), 4'-pentyl-4-biphenylcarbonitrile (5-CB), with a 90° twisted alignment within a cell made of two cross-polarized absorptive plastic polarizers, and investigated the nonlinear transmission properties using cw (532 nm) lasers. We observed optically self-activated polarization switching with a factor of three lower switching power than a dye-doped LC cell with similar linear transmittance using glass substrates. We also studied the dynamics of the switching processes and observed millisecond switching time. These studies have demonstrated a simpler but more efficient way for fabricating broadband, low switching power, millisecond time scale switching, and optical limiting devices.
School of Electronic and Optical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China. cxsheng@yahoo.com
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Sheng
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Chen
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Norwood
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Wang
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Thomas
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Peyghambarian