Victor B. Taranenko

Photoinduced anisotropy in bio-chrom films

Abstract The photoanisotropic properties of Bio-chrom films consisting of a photochemically active purple membrane of Halobacterium halobium dispersed in a polymer matrix are studied. A model of the material based on a reversible anisotropic bleaching of the photosensitive molecules (bacteriorodopsin) is discussed. The main holographic characteristics of the real time holograms recorded in the Bio-chrom films are given.

Transverse optical effects in bistable active cavity with nonlinear absorber on bacteriorhodopsin

Spatio-temporal effects of thresholding and switching are investigated theoretically and experimentally in bistable single- and multimode cavities containing two nonlinear elements: photochromic absorber on bacteriorhodospin controlled by bleaching and coloring external beams and amplifier on organic dye pumped by periodic laser pulses.

Dynamics of Laser-Induced Bubble and Free-Surface Oscillations in an Absorbing Liquid

A series of laser-driven dynamic photocapillary effects in absorbing liquid are described. We have observed self-oscillations of the free surface of a liquid (iodine solution in ethanol) and laser-induced bubble trapping and oscillations excited by a low power cw argon laser.

WTA dynamics in large aperture active cavity with saturable absorber

Winner-takes-all dynamical behavior of transverse structure in a large aperture dye laser with intracavity saturable absorber on bacteriorhodopsin controlled by bleaching and coloring external beams is demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally. As a result of mode competitive interactions in the multistable dye laser the strongest component of multimode structure incoherently initiated by uniform external bleaching beam suppresses the rest modes and the final stage of transverse structure evolution is the single-mode regime of operation.

Optical anisotropy of volume phase gratings

Abstract A propagation of zero diffraction order through a volume phase grating is analysed. It is shown that a phase shift between S and P polarization components arises, thus providing optical anisotrpy of the grating. Experimental verification of theoretical predictions is presented.

Metal-Multilayer-Dielectric Structure for Enhancement of s- and p-Polarized Evanescent Waves

We propose a structure based on combination of multilayer stack of dielectric films and thin metal layer for excitation and enhancement of both s- and p-polarized evanescent waves. It is shown that two different mechanisms of evanescent wave excitation may occur at the same angle of light beam incidence on the structure. Application for evanescent wave polarization holographic recording with the help of this structure is discussed.

Photoinduced anisotropy, four-wave mixing, and phase conjugation in materials based on bacteriorhodopsin

In the field of real-time optical processing and computing based on the principles of nonlinear optics and dynamic holography a key role belongs to recording materials. There are certain properties of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) that make it attractive for these applications. Materials based on BR have a very wide range of photoreply time from 100 s down to 10 ps depending on the preparation procedure, and an axtremely high spatial resolution limited by the dimensions of the molecules. Moreover, they are sensitive to the state of polarization of the recording light, due to molecular dichroism. In this report we analyse the mian optical properties of BR films and aqueous suspensions, discuss the mechanisms of the photoinduced anisotropy in these materials and dèscribe the results of nonlinear optics and dynamic holography experiments: nonlinear filtration, control of polarization, polarization-preserving phase conjugation based on vectoral four-wave mixing.

Using Metal-Multilayer-Dielectric Structure to Increase Sensitivity of Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor

We propose using a specially designed metal-multilayer-dielectric structure deposited on glass substrate to enhance the evanescent field and improve the sensitivity of the surface plasmon resonance sensor. The proposed structure supports both hybrid plasmonic transverse magnetic modes and conventional waveguide transverse electric modes. We show numerically the significant enhancement of the evanescent field and improvement of the sensitivity for the waveguide transverse electric mode.

Holographic spectral selectors and filters based on phase gratings and planar waveguides

This paper reviews some results of the modern investigations on holographic spectral elements based on volume phase gratings recorded in sensitized gelatin films. Physical principles, fabrication techniques, and main characteristics of the holographic spectral elements are discussed. Some applications of the holographic spectral elements for tunable laser sources are demonstrated.

Nonlinear polarization-modulated spectroscopy of bacteriorhodopsin and its analogues

We report on a novel nonlinear polarization-modulated spectroscopic method for an accurate measurement of the nonlinear change of both real and imaginary parts of the complex refractive index in isotropic materials having either scalar or tensor photoresponse. It is based on a vector two-wave-mixing interaction and heterodyne detection of dynamic change of optical polarization. New data on steady-state and transient nonlinear characteristics of bacteriorhodopsin-based materials (suspensions and polymer films) are obtained using this method.