Nonlinear effects in a liquid crystal optical oscillator

S. Residori; U. Bortolozzo; Jean-Pierre Huignard; A. Montina; F. T. Arecchi

doi:10.1117/12.730358

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12 September 2007 Nonlinear effects in a liquid crystal optical oscillator

S. Residori, U. Bortolozzo, Jean-Pierre Huignard, A. Montina, F. T. Arecchi

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Proceedings Volume 6654, Liquid Crystals XI; 665406 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.730358
Event: Photonic Devices + Applications, 2007, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

A nonlinear optical medium results by the collective orientation of liquid crystal molecules tightly coupled to a transparent photoconductive layer made of a BSO photorefractive crystal. The nonlinear medium, called photorefractive liquid crystal light-valve, gives a large two-wave-mixing gain, thus, when inserted in a ring cavity, it results in an unidirectional optical oscillator. Dynamical regimes with many interacting modes are made possible by the wide transverse size and the high nonlinearity of the liquid crystal gain medium. In particular, we show the generation of spatiotemporal pulses, coming from the random superposition of many longitudinal and transverse modes simultaneously oscillating in the cavity.

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S. Residori, U. Bortolozzo, Jean-Pierre Huignard, A. Montina, and F. T. Arecchi "Nonlinear effects in a liquid crystal optical oscillator", Proc. SPIE 6654, Liquid Crystals XI, 665406 (12 September 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.730358

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