Abstract

Liquid crystals [LCs] in their various ordered and disordered phases have been shown to possess large optical and electro-optical nonlinearities over wide temporal [cw to picosecond] and spectral [visible to infrared] ranges [1]. Because of their unique physical properties, various novel liquid crystalline structures, such as thin films or pixels with, slab waveguides, LC cored fibers and fiber arrays, could be constructed that will provide superior performance in specific optical switching, imaging and processing applications. In particular, we have previously reported observation of low-threshold stimulated backscattering and optical limiting effects in an isotropic liquid crystal [ILC] cored fibers of centimeters in length [2].

© 1996 Optical Society of America