BEAM Co.’s azobenzene liquid crystals are compositions based on compounds of series

4-n-alkyl-4’-n-alkoxyazobenzenes,

4,4’-di(n-alkyl)azobenzenes, and

4-n-alkyl(cycloalkyl)azophenyl esters of

2-n-alkyl-1-cyclopropanecarboxylic acids.

These materials are used for nonlinear optical applications and optical information recording/processing using low power laser beams (10^-7 - 10^-3 W).