New nonlinear optical materials from living matter

Mihaela A. Ghelmez; Maria Honciuc; Mihai C. Piscureanu; Cristian Gheorghe

doi:10.1117/1.600693

1 May 1996 New nonlinear optical materials from living matter

Mihaela A. Ghelmez, Maria Honciuc, Mihai C. Piscureanu, Cristian Gheorghe

Optical Engineering, Vol. 35, Issue 5, (May 1996). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.600693

There is current interest in organic materials for use in optoelectronics. The dielectric properties of these materials have proved compatible with low biasing powers, and some methods to improve them have been proposed. We discuss some fatty acids and mixtures of fatty acids, as well as fatty acid–cholesterol, all of them having an important role in biological membranes. They have smectic liquid-crystalline properties in some temperature ranges, this state being involved in the mechanisms determining health and illness. They can be used also in optoelectronic applications, because of the huge optical nonlinearity in the mesomorphic domain. The external self-focusing of a laser beam and nonlinear optical activity have been observed experimentally; by studying the modification of laser pulses in such media, the cholesterol percentage could be estimated. Also the interaction, at different wavelengths, with coherent and noncoherent light was studied.

Citation Download Citation

Mihaela A. Ghelmez, Maria Honciuc, Mihai C. Piscureanu, and Cristian Gheorghe "New nonlinear optical materials from living matter," Optical Engineering 35(5), (1 May 1996). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.600693

Published: 1 May 1996

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available