Oksana Trushkevych

Characterization of carbon nanotube–thermotropic nematic liquid crystal composites

Dispersions of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in liquid crystals (LCs) have attracted attention due to their unique properties and possible applications in photonics and electronics. However, these are hard to stabilize, and the loading level in the equilibrium state in LC hosts is small. A practical way to monitor the quality and CNT incorporation in such equilibrium dispersions is required. Here, we compare different methods for characterising equilibrium CNT–LC composite materials.

Broad spectrum measurement of the birefringence of an isothiocyanate based liquid crystal

Tunable materials with high anisotropy of refractive index and low loss are of particular interest in the microwave and terahertz range. Nematic liquid crystals are highly sensitive to electric and magnetic fields and may be designed to have particularly high birefringence. In this paper we investigate birefringence and absorption losses in an isothiocyanate based liquid crystal (designed for high anisotropy) in a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum, namely 0.1-4 GHz, 30 GHz, 0.5-1.8 THz, and in the visible and near-infrared region (400 nm-1600 nm). We report high birefringence (Δn = 0.19-0.395) and low loss in this material. This is attractive for tunable microwave and terahertz device applications.

Optically generated adaptive localized structures in confined chiral liquid crystals doped with fullerene

We report the facile optical creation of switchable localized structures in chiral liquid crystals doped with fullerene. In a cholesteric cell unwound by vertical boundary conditions, the initially dispersed fullerenes are deposited from the bulk to the surface of confining glass plates by low-intensity illumination. This alters the surface boundary conditions and allows for the creation of localized particlelike structures with twist-bound defects (dubbed Torons) that are controlled by electric fields and arranged into patterns of interest for photonic and electro-optic applications.

Measurement of Dielectric Anisotropy of Some Liquid Crystals for Microwave Applications

This work presents the measurement of the dielectric anisotropy of selected nematic liquid crystals in the 0.01–6 GHz range, and comparison of the measurements with the birefringence values at optical frequencies. The effect of alignment on the reproducibility of dielectric measurements was also measured. It was found that a good surface alignment is essential to achieve reproducibility. Finally, it was experimentally confirmed that there is a strong correlation between the dielectric anisotropy in the microwave region and the birefringence at visible frequencies.

PROJECTION OF HOLOGRAMS FROM PHOTOREFRACTIVE OASLMs

Liquid crystals doped with fullerenes and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) act as good optical nonlinear materials. We have used these materials to build optically-addressed spatial light modulators (OASLMs). The devices comprise a single layer of doped liquid crystal acting as an active layer. Undoped LC devices with surfaces coated with fullerenes are also studied. Such OASLMs allow recording of phase holograms, and we record by imaging pre-calculated pre-recorded holograms. Writing is performed at normal incidence and reading at 45° oblique incidence. Both transmission and reflection modes of operation are used. Experimental results as well as comparison with commercially available OASLMs are presented.

Resolution in optically addressed spatial light modulators based on dye-doped liquid crystals.

Dye-doped nematic liquid crystals (LCs) are studied as materials for single-layer optically addressed spatial light modulators. The dopant is 2,5-azo-substituted anthraquinone (ASAQ) dye. The resolution in the ASAQ-doped LC systems does not depend on the device thickness (in the 5-125 microm range). The efficiency increases with the increase of the thickness and begins to saturate in devices thicker than 40 microm. The limiting resolution in the thick devices is 400 line pairs per millimeter. The limitations of performance (efficiency and resolution) in the studied systems are discussed.

Dynamics in dye-doped LC systems in presence of trans-Cis isomerism

The excitation as well as relaxation dynamics of dye-doped nematic liquid crystal cells has been explored both experimentally and theoretically. Overshoots in the build up of the probe signal diffracted from gratings written onto dye-doped liquid crystal systems have often been observed. The overshoot behaviour makes the accurate measurement of nonlinear optical (NLO) response magnitude difficult and ambiguous. Moreover, it complicates the understanding of the dynamics and the physics of the NLO processes. On the basis of the system with trans-cis isomerisation as a mechanism of the NLO effect the quantitative model has been built to describe the experimental results which we observe. The two unknown material parameters: diffusion coefficient and cis species lifetime are calculated from the relaxation data. A quantitative model of the signal build-up uses these parameters. The calculated dynamic behaviour based on this model correlates very well with the experimental data. The model is used to predict the performance of the system with various dopant diffusion properties.

Optical studies of non-linear behaviour of dye-doped liquid crystal systems

ABSTRACT Dye-doped Liquid Crystals (LCs) are very attractive materials for many applications (Optically Addressed Spatial Light Modulators, dynamic holography, all-optical switching) because of their high sensitivity to optical fields, possibility of use in transmission and low cost. The complexity of the physical effects (surface mediated and bulk) which take place in a doped cell when it is illuminated [1-4], hampers the simple engineering of devices. A good understanding of these effects is a primary goal of this research. A comparison of materials based on temporal and spatial resolution and efficiency is presented. Photorefractive-like effects and various underlying mechanisms are considered.

Single layer liquid crystal optically addressed spatial light modulators

Traditionally, the light receptor and light modulation aspects of Optically Addressed Spatial Light Modulators (OASLMs) occur in separate layers. Due to the progress that has been made in the study of nonlinearity in liquid crystal cell doped with chromophores in the past 20 years, it is appropriate to consider in what ways they themselves may be useful as OASLMs. The light reception and modulation aspects coexist within the same layer in these cells. We have been studying a variety of chromophore-doped systems (azo and anthraquinone dyes, buckminsterfullerene, and carbon nanotubes) over the past four years. Dynamic holographic grating formation is observed under conditions of low power laser light both with and without external fields. The majority of the samples are planar aligned and normal incidence of light can be used. They possess very good lifetime stability and no degradation even under high write light intensities. We understand how to avoid permanent recordings using appropriate alignment surfaces. This is important in OASLM applications where real-time updating of written information is required (dynamic holography, all-optical switching). The resolution of the devices is superior to the thickness of the liquid crystal layer, and comparable to the best traditional OASLMs. We are currently working on understanding the dynamics in order to address the issue of speed of response. The report will include latest results on diffraction efficiency from our OASLM characterization set-up.

Broadband ultrafast pulse generation with double wall carbon nanotubes

Materials with nonlinear optical properties are much sought after for ultrafast photonic applications. Mode-locked lasers can generate ultrafast pulses using saturable absorbers[1]. Currently, the dominant technology is based on semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs). However, narrow tuning range (tens of nm), complex fabrication and packaging limit their applications[2]. Single wall nanotubes (SWNTs) and graphene offer simpler and cost-effective solutions[1]. Broadband operation can be achieved in SWNTs using a distribution of tube diameters[1,3], or by using graphene[4–8], due to the gapless linear dispersion of Dirac electrons[8,9].