Photorefractive effect of a liquid crystal cell with a ZnO nanorod doped in only one PVA layer

We observe obviously different diffraction efficiencies with forward and reverse dc voltages in a forced-light-scattering (FLS) experiment for a cell with ZnO nanorod doped in only one poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) layer. When a dc voltage with a positive pole on the ZnO nanorod doped side is applied, the excited charge carriers primarily move along the transverse direction, which results in a higher diffraction efficiency. Conversely, when the dc voltage with a negative pole on the ZnO nanorod doped side is applied, the excited charge carriers primarily move along the longitudinal direction, which leads to a lower diffraction efficiency. A largest diffraction efficiency of about 9% is achieved in the ZnO nanorod doped liquid crystal cell.