Abstract

Second-harmonic generation (SHG) is a widely applied nonlinear optical technique to investigate interfacial layers, and the theory thereof is well established.¹ The systems that have been studied include monolayers of long- chain liquid-crystal molecules physisorbed on fused-quartz substrates. Using SHG it has been shown that the layer exhibits in-plane symmetry and that the average angle between the molecular axis and the surface normal is rather large (θ ≈ 71°).

© 1998 Optical Society of America