Nonlinear Optical Experiments on Liquid Crystal Chiral Structures

Up to now there are only few reports in the literature on experimental examination of nonlinear effects in chiral liquid crystals. The presented data are sometimes confusing. We proposed a simple experiment in a probe+pump laser technics for studying periodic liquid crystalline structures. The paper presents initial results of examination of a cholesteric material in the region of selective light reflection. We have been interested if any nonlinear effect of the collective nature appeared by usually accessible light intensities, i.e. non-thermal but of optical reorientation origin. The investigation was oriented toward potential application in all-optical light modulators.