Photoinduced electrical conductivity and photorefraction in a nematic liquid crystal
Rudenko E. V., Sukhov A. V.
A new mechanism for an optical nonlinearity of nematic liquid crystals is predicted theoretically. It has also been implemented experimentally. It involves a reorientation of the axis of the liquid crystal caused by the field of the spatially nonuniform charge of photoinduced carriers. This mechanism is three orders of magnitude stronger than the direct orientational mechanism.