Fast optical recording in dye-doped polymer-dispersed liquid-crystal films

We describe a fast optical recording material based on a dye-doped polymer-dispersed liquid-crystal film. A holographic grating is written in this film with a single Q -switched Nd:YAG laser pulse that has a duration of ~6 ns . Such a grating is due to the reorientation effect of the liquid-crystal molecules through interaction with the photoinduced adsorption of the doped azo dyes. Experimental results indicate that the grating thus formed is permanent but electrically switchable.