Colossal optical nonlinearity induced by a low frequency external electric field in dye-doped liquid crystals

We report on the effects of a low-frequency electric field on the optical nonlinear response of thin dye-doped liquid crystal cells. Experimental data show that the external field allows reaching extremely high values of the optical nonlinearity without any critical control of the cell interfaces. A qualitative interpretation of the collected data, based on the light-induced modulation of the bulk voltage through surface modifications, is proposed. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.