Self-transparency effect of a laser beam propagating in a polymer dispersal liquid crystal

摘要

Abstract: We analyzed the self-transparency effect of a laser beam traveling in a sample of an unsaturated polyester. Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal. This effect is of thermal nature and occurs when a change of the refractive index of the considered composite material is induced by variations of the local temperature due to the incident light power. We studied the mechanism governing this phenomenon and report a detailed 3D map showing how the transmitted beam profile changes as a function of both incident power and time. It is discussed how light intensity and temperature can be used as control parameters for the nonlinear part of the refractive index. Our experimental results indicates the possibility of employing this material to design thermal sensors as devices working as optical switch.!8