Supra-nonlinear Nano-particulate Liquid-crystalline Opto-electronics

The objective of the Phase 2 of the present proposal is to develop Agile Micro-Optics Systems (AMOS) as a new generation multifunctional devices electro-optically adaptable for performing specific optical processing tasks. A spatial light modulator withboth optical storage and display modality, capable of selectively controlling the phase, amplitude, polarization and coherence of laser beams with high spatial (1 mm) and temporal (1 ms) resolution will become one of the realizations of the technology.Other devices in this family include optically reconfigurable micro-electro-optical circuits, optical gates, and diffractive optics for operation in a wide range of spectrum, UV to IR.The AMOS will be based on highly nonlinear optical materials with reconfigurable internal nanoparticulate network the synthesis of which was successfully undertaken in the Phase 1 of the project. The development of these materials will continue in thePhase 2 using proprietary Liquid Crystals (LC) with photo-excitation enhanced record high optical nonlinearity and nanoparticles of various origins (dielectric, electroconductive, and magnetic). The versatility of this novel class of