Related papers: Optical analysis of spatially periodic patterns in…
This paper describes the application of a laser diffraction technique to the study of electroconvection in nematic liquid crystal cells. It allows a real-time quantitative access to pattern wave lengths and amplitudes. The diffraction…
Surface waves on liquids act as a dynamical phase grating for incident light. In this article, we revisit the classical method of probing such waves (wavelengths of the order of mm) as well as inherent properties of liquids and liquid films…
Optical modes of a multilayered photonic structure with the twisted nematic liquid crystal as a defect layer have been investigated. The electroconvective flow in the nematic makes a spatially periodic structure in the form of abnormal…
We study light scattering by a hedgehog-like and linear disclination topological defects in a nematic liquid crystal by a metric approach. Light propagating near such defects feels an effective metric equivalent to the spatial part of the…
We show that the mechanical effect of light on the orientational ordering of the crystalline axis of a mesophase can be used to control the dynamics of the optical response of liquid crystal infiltrated photonic structures. The…
A nematic liquid crystal (NLC) layer with the anisotropy axis modulated at a fixed rate q in the transverse direction is considered. If the layer locally constitutes a half-wave plate, then the thin-screen approximation predicts 100%…
We make a phenomenological model of optical two-beam interaction in a model planar liquid crystal cell. The liquid crystal is subject to homeotropic anchoring at the cell walls, is surrounded by thin photosensitive layers, and is subject to…
Liquid crystals (LCs) play a fundamental and significant role in modern technology. Recently, they have also been used in active switching, adaptive optics, and next-generation displays for augmented and virtual reality. This is due to the…
Thanks to their unique properties, nematic liquid crystals feature a variety of mechanisms for light-matter interactions. For continuous-wave optical excitations, the two dominant contributions stem from reorientational and thermal…
A simple model of 1D structure based on a Fibonacci sequence with variable atomic spacings is proposed. The model allows for observation of the continuous transition between periodic and non-periodic diffraction patterns. The diffraction…
Consideration is given to the effects of inhomogeneous shear flow (both regular and chaotic) on nematic liquid crystals in a planar geometry. The Landau--de Gennes equation coupled to an externally-prescribed flow field is the basis for the…
Periodically structured materials can sustain both optical and mechanical excitations which are tailored by the geometry. Here we analyze the properties of dispersively coupled planar photonic and phononic crystals: optomechanical crystals.…
Nematic liquid-crystal devices are a powerful tool to structure light in different degrees of freedom, both in classical and quantum regimes. Most of these devices exploit either the possibility of introducing a position-dependent phase…
The reorientational nonlinearity of nematic liquid crystals enables a self-localized spatial soliton and its waveguide to be deflected or destroyed by a control beam propagating across the cell. We demonstrate a simple all-optical…
Grating magneto-optical traps are an enabling quantum technology for portable metrological devices with ultracold atoms. However, beam diffraction efficiency and angle are affected by wavelength, creating a single-optic design challenge for…
A nematic liquid crystal in contact with a grating surface possessing an alternating stripe pattern of locally homeotropic and planar anchoring is studied within the Frank--Oseen model. The combination of both chemical and geometrical…
The influence of controlable parameters like temperature and wavelength on the trajectories of light in a nematic liquid crystal with topological defects is studied through a geometric model. The model incorporates phenomenological details…
Polarizing optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry are used to determine the phase sequence of three liquid crystalline 4-pentylphenyl-4'-n-alkyloxythiobenzoates with n = 9, 10, 11. The X-ray diffraction method is applied…
In uniaxial soft matter with a reorientational nonlinearity, such as nematic liquid crystals, a light beam in the extraordinary polarization walks off its wavevector due to birefringence, while it undergoes self-focusing via an increase in…
We study theoretically the instabilities induced by a linearly polarized ordinary light wave incident at a small oblique angle on a thin layer of homeotropically oriented nematic liquid crystal with special emphasis on the dye-doped case.…