Second-harmonic generation with traveling-wave pulses

We experimentally studied properties of traveling-wave excitation and traveling-wave pulse compression for a Nd : glass laser system with a streak camera. These properties were extended to second-harmonic generation with a type-11 KDP crystal. We found that the second-harmonic pulse generated from the chirped-fundamental pulse also has a good chirp linearity, but the spectral bandwidth and temporal duration were reduced. We demonstrated the effective subpulse suppression in the compressed pulse with the second-harmonic generation. The pulse with tilted wave front, short wavelength and high contrast ratio can be obtained by the second-harmonic generation of traveling-wave pulse.     

Effect of Air Gap on Dual-Tripler Broadband Third-Harmonic Generation

We experimentally study the effect of the air gap on conversion efficiency and the spectrum of generated third-harmonic pulses in the dual-tripler broadband third-harmonic generation scheme. The experimental results are in good agreement with predictions that the 4-cm air gap is equivalent to a full cycle of phase mismatch among the three interacting pulses （i.e. the fundamental, second-harmonic and third-harmonic pulse）. The experimental results also show that the spectrum of the third-harmonic pulse is sensitive to the air gap. We also point out that the air gap effect can be ignored when the dual-tripler system is located in 1000 Pa atmosphere. These results will guide the design of the broadband third-harmonic generation system in high power lasers.     

Near-surface second-harmonic generation for autocorrelation measurements in the uv

Autocorrelation measurement of ultrashort uv laser pulses using non-phasematched second-harmonic generation from the surface of nonlinear crystals is described. The technique is demonstrated for wavelengths from 378–300 nm and pulse durations of 30 ps–300 fs.     

Transverse second-harmonic generation from disordered nonlinear crystals

We investigate the transverse second-harmonic generation in as grown strontium barium niobate (SBN) crystals with a random structure of anti-parallel ferroelectric domains. We consider both, single and counter-propagating pulse geometries. We investigate polarization properties of the second harmonic signal and discuss applications of this process for short pulses characterization. Presented at 9-th International Workshop on Nonlinear Optics Applications, NOA 2007, May 17–20, 2007, Świnoujście, Poland     

Coupled cavity modelocking of a Nd:YAG laser using second-harmonic generation

The modelocking of a Nd:YAG laser using second-harmonic generation in an external cavity as the only pulse shortening process is reported. The output of a long pulse Nd:YAG laser was simultaneously modelocked and Q-switched. The average pulse duration was 30–50 ps and the peak power was in the range 60–160 kW.     

Nonlinear Photoluminescence from ZnO Nanobelts

The nonlinear photoluminescence （PL） including second-harmonic generation （SHG） and the multiphoton luminescence （MPL） around 385 nm and 530 nm from ZnO nanobelts are investigated by using near-infrared excitations. The excitation wavelength dependence of MPL intensity reveals resonant energy transfer from SHG to MPL near the band gap excitation. The lifetime measurement of the MPL shows a much slower decay process of the defect emission, which results from the generation and recombination of both donors and acceptors on the disordered surface of the ZnO nanobelts.     

The spectral broadening of a blue optical pulse and the modulation of a pulse waveform in a photonic crystal fiber by induced-phase modulation

By copropagating a fundamental pulse and a blue second-harmonic pulse from a Ti:Sapphire oscillator in a photonic crystal fiber (PCF), the spectral broadening of the blue second-harmonic pulse from 380 to 600 nm has been observed by use of induced-phase modulation (IPM) at a 78-MHz repetition rate. From the experimental and the calculated delay time dependence of spectral intensities, it was inferred that the largest spectral broadening was observed when the second-harmonic pulse interacted with the fundamental pulse near the input end of a PCF, where the fundamental pulse was compressed temporally due to self-phase modulation and negative group velocity dispersion. From the simulation, the mechanism of spectral broadening was clarified and the fission process of the fundamental pulse was shown to be influenced strongly by IPM.     

Switching behaviour of ferroelectric liquid crystals probed by optical second-harmonic generation

Ferroelectric properties of thin (1.5–4 μm planar cells of a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) mixture are studied using electro-optic measurements, second-harmonic generation (SHG) and SHG interferometry. A switching behaviour of the FLC cells in external dc electric fields is observed. It is characterised by rotation of the polarisation plane of the transmitted light and by changes in the SHG intensity, phase and anisotropy dependences, which are attributed to a collective motion of the system as a ferroelectric uniform state with C₂ symmetry. Received: 16 October 2001 / Revised version: 18 March 2002 / Published online: 6 June 2002     

Induced Diffraction in Phase-Mismatched Second-Harmonic Generation

We show analytically that in phase-mismatched second-harmonic generation, an effective diffraction is induced at the second-harmonic （SH） frequency. Numerical simulation results agree with the analytical predictions. Compared to the case of linear propagation, the effect of the overall diffraction at the SH frequency becomes doubled due to the induced diffraction, which causes an interesting result that the SH beam width will be larger than that of the fundamental field.     

Tilted-pulse second-harmonic beam analysis for femtosecond to subnanosecond laser pulse-duration measurements

The possibility of extending the second-harmonic beam (SHB) method proposed originally for picosecond and subpicosecond pulse-duration measurements to the femtosecond region is pointed out. This can be achieved by introducing a differential time delay of the pulse wave front corresponding to a tilting of the pulse in the direction other than that applied by Wyatt and Marinero, and also by Saltiel et al., who achieved extensions towards the subnanosecond region. The solution of the wave equations for noncollinear second-harmonic generation in the case of arbitrarily tilted pulses has been carried out. Simple formulae valid from the subnanosecond to the femtosecond region are presented.     

Cross-phase-modulation-induced instabilities and frequency shifts in a photonic-crystal fiber

Copropagating fundamental-wavelength and second-harmonic femtosecond pulses of Cr: forsterite laser radiation are used to study cross-phase-modulation-induced instabilities and frequency shifts in a photonic-crystal fiber. Parametric instability of the second-harmonic probe pulse induced through cross-phase modulation by the fundamental-wavelength pump pulse gives rise to distinct sidebands in the spectrum of the probe field transmitted through the fiber. The wavelength of these sidebands was tuned in our experiments within approximately 100 nm by varying the peak power and the delay time of the pump pulse, suggesting a convenient way of controlled parametric spectral transformation of ultrashort laser pulses.This revised version was published online in March 2005. In the previous version, the published online date was missing     

Weak localization effects in the second-harmonic light scattered by random systems of particles

We report rigorous numerical simulations that show the presence of coherent backscattering effects in the second-harmonic generation and scattering of light by random systems of two-dimensional particles. Since the medium composing the particles is assumed to be homogeneous and isotropic, the second-harmonic field is generated mainly by surface effects. For the fundamental frequency, the results present a clear enhanced backscattering peak. In contrast, the second-harmonic scattering patterns present an intensity dip in the backscattering direction.     

Observation of phase-matched optical second-harmonic generation in organic monolayers

Guided-wave second-harmonic generation using a passive planar waveguide covered with an organic nonlinear optical film as thin as a single molecular layer is demonstrated. The phase-matching condition of this process is revealed both with a high degree of waveguide-mode selectivity and a maximum in the frequency response.     

Generation of nonclassical states by nonlinear optical systems

We review the main results obtained recently by our group in the field of quantum noise reduction in nonlinear optical systems. We illustrate the possibility of obtaining significant effects in degenerate parametric oscillators, intracavity second-harmonic generation, nondegenerate four-wave mixing, and one- and two-photon optical bistability.     

Compensation of group-velocity mismatch in the frequency-doubling modelocker

We propose a method for reducing the deteriorating effect of group-velocity mismatch on the frequency-doubling modelocker time response. A birefringent plate is used to introduce a time delay between the fundamental and the second-harmonic pulses which is opposite in sign to that accumulated in the frequency-doubling crystal. In the new arrangement the modelocker may provide pulse compression at a sub-picosecond time scale     

PPLN-based all-optical 40 Gbit/s ODB/AMI/FSK wavelength conversion and FSK logic NOT gate

We propose and demonstrate all-optical wavelength conversion for optical duobinary (ODB), alternate-mark inversion (AMI), and frequency-shift keying (FSK) signals and a logic NOT gate for a FSK signal based on cascaded second-harmonic generation and difference-frequency generation (cSHG/DFG) in a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide. ODB/AMI/FSK are generated from the demodulation of differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) using one-bit-delay fiber delay interferometer (FDI). PPLN-based 40 Gbit/s ODB/AMI/FSK wavelength conversion and FSK logic NOT gate are simultaneously implemented in the experiment.     

Phase matching of second-harmonic generation in birefringent porous silicon

Optical second-harmonic generation is investigated in free-standing (110) porous silicon films having strong in-plane birefringence. Based on the measured values of the refractive indices, the conditions of phase matching are calculated and verified in the experiments on angular and polarization dependences of second-harmonic generation. Filling pores with a transparent dielectric liquid allows phase matching to be achieved and the second-harmonic signal to be increased by two orders of magnitude. The results of these experiments suggest an opportunity to form new-type nonlinear-optical media consisting of birefringent porous silicon as a phase-matching matrix for the materials embedded in the pores. Received: 30 April 2001 / Published online: 7 June 2001     

Experimental studies of the second-order nonlinear optical response of a novel class of tricyanovinylated thiophene compounds

We measured the second-order nonlinear optical response of a novel class of tricyanovinylated thiophene compounds using electric-field-induced second-harmonic generation. Very large second-order nonlinearity was observed for these compounds. The results indicate that the combination of the tricyanovinyl acceptor and the thiophene conjugating moiety offers excellent molecular second-order optical nonlinearity.     

Second-harmonic generation spectroscopy on?organic?nanofibers

Optical second-harmonic generation upon nanosecond laser irradiation of nanofibers grown from nonsymmetrically functionalized para-quarter-phenylene molecules on mica surfaces is investigated in the spectral region around electronic resonances. Strong multiphoton excited luminescence appears together with the second-harmonic signal in the spectra. It is demonstrated how the two components can be separated by analyzing emission spectra recorded over a broad range of wavelengths around the second-harmonic energy. Spectra of the absolute values of the second-harmonic signals are obtained for three differently functionalized molecules. Together with supplementary measurements of the structure of the nanofiber films this forms the basis for estimation of the second-harmonic susceptibility of the fiber materials. Values of the nonlinear susceptibilities are obtained, which are comparable to those of well-known inorganic nonlinear optical crystals.     

Influence of Cascaded Nonlinear Phase Shifts on Second-Harmonic Generation in High-Intensity Pumped QPM Structures

Cascaded nonlinear phase shifts may be imposed on the interacting waves during second-harmonic generation （SHG） in a quasi-Phase-matched （QPM） structure, whieh are severe in high-intensity regime and may result in lower conversion efficiency. We propose a configuration of QPM structure with reduced domain-length, which may depress the nonlinear phase shifts to some extent and lead to an improvement on the conversion efficiency. The numerical analyses on the conversion efficiency as well as the relative phase angle are discussed in detail for better understanding of the SHG process.