1 What is a liquid crystal 2 1.1 Nematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.2 Cholesterics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.3 Smectics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.4 Columnar phases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....

We describe the polarization topology of the vector beams emerging from a patterned birefringent liquid crystal plate with a topological charge q at its center (q-plate). The polarization topological structures for different q-plates and different input polarization states have been studied experimentally by measuring the Stokes parameters point-by-point in the beam transverse plane. Furthermor...

We investigate a power tunable junction formed by two interacting spatial solitons self-trapped in nematic liquid crystals. By launching a counter-propagating copolarized probe we assess the guided-wave behavior induced by the solitons and demonstrate a novel all-optical switch. Varying soliton power the probe gets trapped into one or two or three guided-waves by the soliton-induced index pertu...

We consider the dynamics of a variable optical prism based on Pancharatnam phase. The device basics, using liquid crystals (LCs) as the electro-optical material, have been previously proposed. In this paper, we study the dynamics of discrete changes in the phase profile, and also continuous changes in the phase profile through acquired data and numerical modeling. We show that a design based on...

We report on the observation of self-induced precession of an optical vortex as a result of the nonlinear interaction between light and liquid crystals. The phenomenon corresponds to an instability for the spin-orbit interaction of light that manifests as a spontaneous axial symmetry breaking, which leads to the orbital motion of the optical vortex around the beam propagation. A nonlinear spin ...

The stabilization of the metastable 180 degrees twist state in a bistable chiral splay nematic liquid crystal device is studied. The stability of the metastable 180 degrees twist state is explained using the azimuthal anchoring strength, which is a function of the twist elastic constant and the cell gap. A stable 180 degrees twist state as well as the permanent retention time can be obtained by...

Cyclic ureas represent a new class of bent-core liquid crystals which, depending on the ring size and other structural parameters, can form a series of polar (ferroelectric and antiferroelectric), as well as non-polar, tilted and non-tilted smectic and undulated smectic phases.