Studies of photorefractive properties of a novel dye-doped nematic liquid crystal system

We examine here photorefractive and dielectric properties of a novel system : nematic liquid crystal mixture doped with 1-(5-methylfuran-2-yl)-3-(4-dim ethylaminophenyl)-propenon dye. Kinetics of formation of refractive index g ratings induced by light in a two-wave mixing experiment in this dye-doped nematic liquid crystal together with dielectric relaxation and ionic conduc tivity are investigated. We perform a degenerate four-wave mixing experimen t, enabling us to observe the generation of an optical phase conjugation si gnal by the studied system, and report on some optical microscope observati ons of hydrodynamic instabilities related to charge injection from the elec trodes and ionic current flow through liquid crystal layer. We discuss the results in reference to other similar liquid crystalline materials. Copyrig ht (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.