Colossal nonlinear optical response of liquid crystals

Abstract We briefly review the main steps related to the discovery of the extraordinarily large nonlinear optical response of nematic liquid crystals doped by Methyl Red leading to detection of n 2  > 10 3 cm 2 /W in 1 μm thin films, that is the strongest nonlinear response ever reported in liquid crystals. This investigation started from the researches of Professor Yuri Reznikov on light-induced anchoring effects in these materials.