Abstract

Self-action of an initially elliptically polarized Gaussian beam in the isotropic phase of a cholesteric liquid crystal near the temperature of phase transition is studied. It is shown that nonlocality of the optical properties of the crystal leads to significantly different self-action behavior of light beams with right-hand and left-hand elliptical polarization. Numerous lines of circular polarization singularity ($C$-lines) can appear in beam cross sections during its self-focusing. These lines are circumferences of various radii with centers located on the beam axis and lying in planes perpendicular to the direction of its propagation. The position and contrast of the lines is subject to the total beam power and initial polarization state, and in certain cases some of the single $C$-lines split into multiple lines, and vice versa.

© 2021 Optical Society of America

Impact of various mechanisms of the photorefractive effect on polarization singularity generation during the self-focusing of a Gaussian beam in an isotropic medium

K. S. Grigoriev and V. A. Makarov
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 36(6) 1690-1694 (2019)

Reorientational optical nonlinearity of nematic liquid-crystal cells near the nematic isotropic phase transition temperature

Ming-Shan Tsai, I-Min Jiang, Chi-Yen Huang, and Chia-Chi Shih
Opt. Lett. 28(23) 2357-2359 (2003)

Structure of polarization singularities of a light beam at triple frequency generated in isotropic medium by singularly polarized beam

K. S. Grigoriev, P. S. Ryzhikov, E. B. Cherepetskaya, and V. A. Makarov
Opt. Express 25(21) 25416-25421 (2017)

Laser beam propagation in nematic liquid crystals at the temperature close to the nematic-isotropic critical point

Yu-Jen Chen, Yu-Sung Lin, I-Min Jiang, and Ming-Shan Tsai
Opt. Express 16(6) 4078-4084 (2008)

Initiating self-focusing of beams carrying spatial phase singularities

Lyubomir Stoyanov, Georgi Maleshkov, Ivan Stefanov, and Alexander Dreischuh
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 31(5) 1159-1164 (2014)