High efficiency all-optical polarization conversion of cw 1.55 /spl mu/m lasers with liquid crystals by nonresonant optical wave mixing

Summary form only given. In this paper, we revisit the theory and practice of laser induced orientational scattering, in which a polarized 'pump' laser is converted into its orthogonal polarization component by two-beam coupling effects between the 'pump' and its scattered noise. We consider the case of an extraordinarily polarized laser incident on a planar nematic film with the optical electric field parallel to the director axis. We demonstrate the feasibility of an all-optical polarization conversion process using a cw 1.55 /spl mu/m laser, to our knowledge for the first time. The liquid crystal used is pure E-7 (EM Chemicals), which has a nematic-isotropic phase transition temperature of 60.5/spl deg/C. The laser used is an erbium doped fiber laser capable of 2 W unpolarized output.