Low-power laser beam interaction with irradiated substances from the biological membrane

Sandwich 25micrometers -thick cells with transparent electrodes, filled with some fatty acids (FA) important for the biological membrane (BM), and their mixtures with cholesterol, in the liquid crystal (LC) state, were subjected to a flow of thermal neutrons (4.15 x 10 12 neutrons/cm 2 ). Microstructural aspects, electric behaviour and nonlinear optical effects under lower power laser beams were studied before and after irradiation. The laser interaction with FA in the LC state shows the influence of the thermal neutrons irradiation on the electric conduction and the molecular arrangements in the LC systems. Before irradiation, a lens-like effect u nder a He-Ne laser beam has been noticed in the unsaturated (UFA) acids; due to the self-phase modulation effect, a ring pattern appear in far field. The presence of cholesterol (ch) in mixtures modified these effects. After irradiation, the optical nonlinear effects change their feature, increasing in UFA and occurring also in some saturated acids (SFA). These changes are in agreement with the microscopical aspects, the color modifications, and with the electrical state change. The mixture samples are analyzed too. A month after irradiation, SFA seem to slowing return to the initial state, but UFA samples do not come back to the state before irradiation. The nonlinear optical behavior changes dramatically. Ch slightly modifies these changes.