73.	Characteristics of optically controllable focusing lens generated in guest-host liquid crystals, H. Ono, M. Yoshida and T. Morisaki, Opt. Commun. 211 (2002) 309-318.

Abstract

A detailed analysis of the recently proposed [Appl. Phys. Lett. 74 (1999) 3429] focal length converter using guest–host liquid crystals (GHLCs) is presented. The focal length of the laser-induced lens was varied over a wide range by using both large optical nonlinearity and anisotropic complex refractive indices in GHLCs. The nonlinear phase modulation was generated by irradiating the GHLC with a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser beam (wavelength; 532 nm) having a Gaussian profile. A He–Ne laser beam (wavelength; 633 nm) passed at the same point as the frequency-doubled Nd–YAG laser beam spot and was focused due to the phase modulation. The properties of the all-optical focal length converter were strongly dependent on the GHLC cell parameters including dye concentration and thickness of the GHLC layer.