This proposal aims to investigate how the optical properties of liquid crystals are modified by external perturbation, in this case by an ordinary laser beam. One area to be explored involves the study of laser-induced molecular reorientation and macroscopic structural transitions, highly nonlinear optical wave propagation, and laser induced nonlinear dynamics in liquid crystals. Another area focuses on liquid crystal properties, such as those resulting from surface or interface processes, that cannot be as easily probed by other techniques.
