Molecular rotation in polymer-stabilized dye-doped liquid crystals induced by circularly polarized light

Abstract

Liquid crystals (LCs) possess unique properties of both fluidity and optical anisotropy. Their molecular orientation and optical properties reversibly change by external stimuli, which leads to the development of various optical applications. In dye-doped LCs, molecular reorientation is induced by the irradiation with a laser beam, resulting in the formation of diffraction rings. Recently, we have reported the ellipsoidal diffraction rings rotating with constant speed by the irradiation of polymer stabilized dye-doped LCs (PSLCs) with a circularly polarized beam. However, the effect of the polymer on the rotation behavior remained unexplored. In this study, we investigated the molecular reorientation and rotation behavior of diffraction rings arising from PSLCs with various polymer concentrations by a pump-probe method.