Polarization bistability in a smectic-A liquid crystal.

We report the measurements the of laser light polarization transmitted through the smectic-A phase of a liquid crystal placed inside the Fabry-Perot optical resonator. All four parameters of polarization were measured simultaneously by an ellipsometer of a special construction. Optical polarization bistability phenomenon was observed, in which polarization parameters of outgoing light depend nonlinearly on the intensity of the input beam. We propose a theoretical explanation of this phenomenon, based on the concept of orientational nonlinearity of liquid crystal's molecules