Reflection of a focused light beam in a medium with Kerr nonlinearity. I. Estimates in the paraxial-beam approximation

The reflection intensity in a nonlinear dielectric layer is calculated in the approximation of paraxial incident and reflected light beams. It is shown that reflection is mainly determined by discontinuities of the refractive-index on the boundaries. Unlike reflection by a linear dielectric layer, reflection by a nonlinear layer occurs with a three-time decrease in the effective reflection area and the corresponding broadening of the angular spectrum. The intensity of the reflected wave is comparable to that of an incident wave with nearly critical beam power.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 39, No. 7, pp. 867–875, July, 1996.This work was supported by the International Science Foundation and the Russian Federation Government (projects MR1000 and MR1300).