F. L. S. Cuppo

Thermal-Lens Model Compared with the Sheik-Bahae Formalism in Interpreting Z-Scan Experiments on Lyotropic Liquid Crystals

We carried out Z-scan measurements on lyotropic liquid crystals and on lyotropic liquid crystals doped with ferrofluid. In these experiments, the sample is translated through the focal region of a focused Gaussian laser beam. The dependence of the far-field intensity on sample position due to intensity-dependent optical nonlinearities has been analyzed on the basis of the thermal-lens model of Gordon et al. and the Gaussian decomposition analysis of Sheik-Bahae et al. The thermal-lens model is nonlocal in space and time, whereas the Gaussian decomposition is predicated on a strictly local response. We compare the goodness of fit of the predictions of these models to experimental data, and we discuss limitations of these models in describing Z-scan experiments on systems with nonlocal response.

Nonlinear optical properties of liquid crystals probed by Z-scan technique

We present a review of experimental data on the nonlinear optical properties of thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals probed by the Z-scan technique. Depending on the time scale, different processes originate a nonlinear optical response. Particularly, at nanosecond range, the physical processes associated with the nonlinear response in thermotropics are not completely understood. In lyotropics, the nonlinear response at ms time scale is from thermal origin and depends on the particular mesophase, relative concentration of the components, and temperature.