Laser addressed thermo-optic effect in a novel dyed liquid-crystalline polysiloxane

Abstract

Initial experimental evaluation of a novel liquid-crystalline polysiloxane for thermo-optical recording is presented. A versatile system using a single laser source has been used to gather information on the dynamics of laser addressing. To ensure the most stable, highest-contrast pixel the polymer must be heated through its biphasic region and some way into the isotropic phase. It was found that at 60°C using laser pulses of 300μs or less, write-in and selective erasure times were on the submillisecond timescale, and that bulk erasure required 1–2 min. The use of the polymer in an analogue optical store has been demonstrated and an unoptimized sensitivity of 12nJ/μm² for 632°8 nm light was found at 24°C.