Light-induced anchoring and memory effects in dye-doped liquid crystals

Francesco F. Simoni; Oriano Francescangeli; I. Pepe; Yuri A. Reznikov; Sergei Slussarenko

doi:10.1117/12.299983

1 February 1998 Light-induced anchoring and memory effects in dye-doped liquid crystals

Francesco F. Simoni, Oriano Francescangeli, I. Pepe, Yuri A. Reznikov, Sergei Slussarenko

Proceedings Volume 3318, Liquid Crystals: Physics, Technology, and Applications; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.299983
Event: Liquid Crystals, 1997, Zakopane, Poland

Abstract

We present a new type of effective photoregulation of the LC orientation on an aligning surface through light action upon the liquid crystal bulk. The illumination of an azo- containing LC bulk with polarized light is found to induce both stable high-resolution alignment onto the rigid surface and dynamic sliding of the director over the surface. Typical times of the director sliding over the aligning surface are of the order of 1 ms. Both effects are characterized by extremely small light intensities and seem to be very promising for the development of optical devices for information processing and high density information storage. Light-induced surface memory effects are also observed in these system as a consequence of induced anchoring of the molecular director. This technique has been applied to record both stationary and dynamic holograms with a spatial resolution of 7 micrometers . The surface memory effects have been applied to record both binary and gray scale images. As compared to other methods used in these materials the highest sensitivity and spatial resolution can be achieved: energy densities as low as 10^-1J/cm² were sufficient to write gratings with a resolution better than 100 lines/mm.

Citation Download Citation

Francesco F. Simoni, Oriano Francescangeli, I. Pepe, Yuri A. Reznikov, and Sergei Slussarenko "Light-induced anchoring and memory effects in dye-doped liquid crystals", Proc. SPIE 3318, Liquid Crystals: Physics, Technology, and Applications, (1 February 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.299983

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available