Polarization twisted nematic gratings: a study of the far field diffraction pattern

David Statman; Robert Pettit; John Stenger

doi:10.1117/12.894583

7 September 2011 Polarization twisted nematic gratings: a study of the far field diffraction pattern

David Statman, Robert Pettit, John Stenger

Proceedings Volume 8114, Liquid Crystals XV; 811417 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.894583
Event: SPIE Photonic Devices + Applications, 2011, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

When left and right circularly polarized beams of light from a pump laser interfere in a nematic liquid crystal doped with azo dye, a polarization twisted nematic (PTN) grating is formed in the sample. The same is not true when linearly polarized light interferes, regardless of the polarization. For circularly polarized light, the easy axis is rotated toward the polarization direction of interfering beams. The irradiance is uniform so there is less contribution to refractive index variations. In the latter case the diffraction grating arises from variation in refractive index. Gratings written with Disperse Orange 3 (DO3) as the dopant disappear after removal of the pump beams, whereas grating written with Methyl Red (MR) as the dopant tend to be semi-permanent.

Citation Download Citation

David Statman, Robert Pettit, and John Stenger "Polarization twisted nematic gratings: a study of the far field diffraction pattern", Proc. SPIE 8114, Liquid Crystals XV, 811417 (7 September 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.894583

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