Holographic gratings in azo-dye-doped liquid crystal materials with homogeneous alignment

Abstract

Diffraction properties of holographic gratings recorded in azo-dye-doped liquid crystal material with homogeneous orientation were studied. The gratings were recorded by using two polarized pump beams. The properties were investigated from the point of view of relationships between incident polarizations and diffracted polarizations. The results indicate that the molecular orientation distribution was induced not only for the direction of the grating vector but also for the thickness direction of the grating. The estimated reorientation distribution could be explained by the polarization modulation of the recording light for the propagation direction, which is caused by the uniaxial optical anisotropy of the oriented material.