Amorphous silicon-liquid crystals device for photonic applications

We demonstrate that an hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a: SiH)-liquid crystals hybrid device could be used for the recording of high resolution (0.8-2 mu m) dynamic holograms. A maximum diffraction efficiency of 3.3% was obtained at low power (1.5 mW) He-Ne laser. The nonlinear refractive index change at 0.6 W/cm(2) is n(2)similar to 1x10(-2) cm(2)/W, although small compared to that obtained in dye-doped liquid crystal, is equal to the reported in pure liquid crystal although with much higher power density (similar to 50 W/cm(2)). The device operates in the red to near-infrared part of the spectrum which makes it attractive due to its potential applications in telecommunications and military applications. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America