Realignment-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) and three-dimensional imaging in anisotropic fluids

CARS polarized microscopy of three-dimensional director structures in liquid crystals

We demonstrate three-dimensional vibrational imaging of director structures in liquid crystals using coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) polarized microscopy. Spatial mapping of the structures is based on sensitivity of a polarized CARS signal to orientation of anisotropic molecules in liquid crystals. As an example, we study structures in a smectic material and demonstrate that single-scan CARS and two-photon fluorescence images of molecular orientation patterns are consistent with each other and with the structure model.