Abstract
We present a novel type of photorefractive polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) that contains a polymer, low-molecular liquid crystals (LC's), and a photoconductive sensitizer. Photorefractivity is demonstrated by two-beam-coupling experiments with an external dc field. This material shows highly sensitive photorefractivity, and a purely refractive-index grating is generated by irradiation of interference light . The grating in the photorefractive PDLC's shows strong anisotropy, and the dynamics depends strongly on the composition. In the case of a weight ratio of polymer:LC's, the photorefractive PDLC's present a stable memory effect.
© 1997 Optical Society of America
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