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Optically induced dynamics in nematic liquid crystals: The role of finite beam size

E. Brasselet*

B. Doyon and T. V. Galstian†

L. J. Dubé‡

  • Laboratoire de Photonique Quantique et Moléculaire, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, 94235 Cachan Cedex, France

  • Département de Physique, de Génie Physique, et d’Optique, Université Laval, Cité Universitaire, Québec, Canada G1K 7P4

  • Laboratoire de Dynamique des Ions, des Atomes, et des Molécules, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France

  • *Corresponding author. Email address: ebrassel@lpqm.ens-cachan.fr
  • †TVG is a member of the Center d’Optique, Photonique, et Laser, Université Laval, Québec, Canada and also with Photintech Inc., 1245 Chemin Ste-Foy, Québec, Canada.
  • ‡Also at Département de Physique, de Génie Physique, et d’Optique, Université Laval, Cité Universitaire, Québec, Canada G1K 7P4.
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Phys. Rev. E 69, 021701 – Published 10 February, 2004

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.69.021701

Abstract

We report on the influence of a finite beam size on the molecular reorientation dynamics when a nematic liquid crystal film is excited by a laser beam. We present experimental evidence of a new class of nonlinear dynamics when the excitation is a Gaussian shaped, circularly polarized laser beam at normal incidence. Various nonlinear regimes, periodic, quasiperiodic, intermittent, and possibly chaotic, are observed. A physical interpretation based on walk-off effects is proposed and its implications on current research in the field are discussed.

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Phys. Rev. E 69, 021701– Published 10 February, 2004
  • Received 22 February 2003

© 2004 American Physical Society

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