PD04 Photorefractive Effect in Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal/Photoconductive Polymer Mixtures

Abstract

The photorefractive properties of mixtures of a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) and photoconductive polymers were investigated by two-beam coupling experiments. The effect of temperature, the strength of the applied electric field and spontaneous polarization on the gain coefficient were examined. The asymmetric energy exchange was observed only in the ferroelectric phase. It was considered that the mechanism responsible for refractive index grating formation in FLCs was due to the change in the direction of spontaneous polarization vector induced by the internal electric field. Gain coefficients of FLC/polymer mixtures were mesured to be about 10cm^<-1> under application of 0.2V/μm electric field.