A photorefractive polymer employing a fluorinated cyanotolane chromophore exhibits a stable response-time of approximately 2 ms and may support applications requiring video-rates. The achievable bandwidth is not limited by reorientational dynamics and might be increased further by improvements in photoconductivity.
Efficient photorefractive polymers hold great potential for optical data processing and storage and so have been a topic of intense investigations in recent years. Materials with nearly 100 percent diffraction efficiencies have been developed, but these have been generally characterized by much slower response than their less efficient inorganic counterparts. In this report, we describe a 4-ms initial rise-time using a visible-transparent chromophore in a PVK- based polymer of Tg equals 39 degrees C for 48-V/micrometers bias projected along the grating vector and 250-mW/cm2 writing beams. This fast component consistently accounts for 90 percent of the steady-state response and is analyzed as a function of bias field. We also present transient ellipsometry measurements of an orientational response significantly faster than the grating development, suggesting that chromophores alignment sped does not limit transient grating formation. We describe the role of such underlying property measurements in understanding photorefractive transient behavior, and prospects for further improvements.
Using nematic liquid crystal films doped with photocharge producing dyes, we have demonstrated the feasibility of optical limiting of long pulse - cw lasers at nanowatt power, and clamped transmission of < < 1(mu) J. We also demonstration incoherent-coherent image conversion capability with optical intensity in the (mu) Watt/cm2 level.
We have developed compact millimeter thick optical fiber arrays with nonlinear optical liquid guiding cores. These image transmitting fiber arrays are capable of passive optical limiting action against frequency agile short (picosecond- nanosecond) laser pulses in the visible spectrum. We present the results of further studies of their limiting performance. We also discuss how a recently discovered extraordinarily large nonlinear optical response of methyl-red doped nematic liquid crystal film may be employed for limiting action on longer pulse or cw lasers with nanowatt threshold power.
Recent theoretical and experimental results have shown that the orientational photorefractive effect seen in doped nematic liquid crystal films gives rise to strong beam amplification effects without suffering from phase crosstalk. These effects, examined for both four and two wave mixing, are well suited for adaptive optics applications.
Recently observed optical limiting effects of nano- and pico- second laser pulses through a fiber
array are analyzed using a model that accounts for various nonlinear and excited state absorption, and
subsequent thermal and density effects occurring in the fiber guiding core materials. The nonlinear liquid
cored-fiber arrays we have constructed are capable of low optical limiting threshold and clamped output, as
well as high resolution image transmission.
The results of a recent study of a nonlinear electro-optical effect in dye and fullerene C60-doped nematic liquid crystal films are presented. In particular, photo-induced conduction, self diffraction effects, and optical phase conjugation in the films form near-UV to near-IR wavelengths are explained.
We have studied the nonlinear optical transmission of several isotropic liquid crystal cored fiber and fiber array. These fiber arrays are capable of good image transmission as well as optical limiting of nanosecond and picosecond laser pulses with low threshold and clamped transmission. The nonlinear optical mechanics involved are nonlinear absorptions and nonlinear scattering by thermal and density index changes.
In this paper, we propose a novel high SNR tunable filter using a photorefractive single crystal fiber with multiple holographic gratings. Since the single crystal fiber which is grown by the laser heated pedestal growth (LHPG) technique can be more than 100 mm long, volume gratings with an extremely large number of period can be obtained in the fiber. Thus, the wavelength selectivity of the grating can be very high on the order of 105 so that one can achieve very narrow band filter (< 0.01 nm). To increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the filter, a method of using multiple holographic gratings is proposed. The SNR can be improved by more than 100 times as compared with a conventional volume grating filter. Finally, the electro-optic effect can be used to change the refractive index of the crystal fiber, which in turn changes the wavelength response of the stored volume grating. Since the response time of the electro-optic effect is on the order of 1 ns, one can very rapidly tune the central-wavelength of the filter.
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