GaAs optical parametric oscillator with circularly polarized and depolarized pump

We demonstrate an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on GaAs pumped with linearly polarized and circularly polarized light and show that the relative OPO thresholds agree with theoretical expectations. For the circularly polarized pump, the threshold was as low as for the [111]-linearly polarized pump case. The pump was also passed through a Lyot depolarizer to produce pseudo-depolarized light, and the OPO threshold in this case was only 22% higher than that for [001]-linearly polarized pump.     

Metrology of degree of coherence of circularly polarized optical waves

The use of the method of field polarization modulation for defining the degree of coherence of circularly polarized waves is offered. The role of the reference circularly polarized wave in transforming the spatial distribution of polarization into the depth of visibility modulation of the resulting distribution, which can be metrologically estimated and analyzed, is demonstrated.     

Reflection and transmission of circularly polarized waves in nonlinear dielectrics

A time-sinusoidal circularly polarized plane standing wave solution is obtained for isotropic lossless dielectric media with arbitrary nonlinearity. The spatial variation of the standing wave depends on the nonlinearity and is found by solving a problem of centralforce motion in which the electric complementary energy density furnishes the potential and the spatial coordinate has the role of time. Two special nonlinear dielectric response laws-cubic and quintic-are treated, and explicit solutions for the spatial variation of the wave amplitude and phase are obtained in terms of elliptic functions and elliptic integrals, respectively. The standing-wave solution is applied to give steady state solutions of two reflection/transmission problems (a) reflection from, or resonance modes between, ideally conducting planes and (b) reflection and transmission at a plane interface between two nonlinear dielectric media.     

Cutoff of circularly polarized electromagnetic waves in a waveguide filled with axially magnetized plasma

The paper deals with an experimental investigation of the cutoff conditions for RHCP and LHCP waves propagating in an axially magnetized plasma filling a circular waveguide. The results of an experiment carried out in the X-band are in a qualitative agreement with the linear theory.     

Optics of circularly polarized light waves in one-dimensional magneto-photonic crystals: Theory

A theory is presented for propagation of electromagnetic waves through one-dimensional magnetic Bragg structures (magneto-photonic crystals). Within the self-consistent Green-function technique the transfer matrices and magneto-optical characteristics are derived in terms of circularly polarized waves propagating in periodical arrays of alternating magnetic and dielectric layers. For finite-thickness magneto-photonic crystals, the Faraday rotation and other magneto-optical responses are demonstrated to change considerably in the spectral range of stop-bands, the magnetic modulation of the in-plane reflection intensity being essentially enhanced.     

Parametric excitation of circularly polarized and ion waves in a magnetized plasma

Threshold intensities and growth rates are calculated for the parametric decay instability in which a circularly polarized pump wave excites a low frequency electrostatic ion wave and an electromagnetic circularly polarized wave in a magnetized plasma.     

Negative refraction and focusing of circularly polarized waves in optically active media

Analysis indicates that certain types of optically active media are capable of producing negative refraction and focusing of circularly polarized waves. It is established that a slab of such material acts just as Veselago's hypothetical left-handed media lens, providing subwavelength resolution as Sir Pendry's ideal lens, but for circularly polarized waves.     

Nonlinear interaction of a circularly polarized electromagnetic wave with a dense laser plasma

The interaction of an intense circularly polarized laser pulse with a layer of plasma of supercritical density is studied. The nonlinear skin effect for the electromagnetic field and the coefficient of collisionless absorption of the laser pulse were calculated analytically. It is shown that, in the process of interaction with the plasma, the laser pulse generates solitons propagating through the plasma layer and transferring the radiation through the opaque medium. The coefficient of transparency of the plasma layer for the soliton-like penetration of the laser radiation was calculated. The plasma parameters at which the collisionless absorption is small as compared to the transformation of the laser energy into solitons were found.     

Propagation of circularly polarized waves in one-dimensional bragg structures (magnetophotonic crystals)

A theory of electromagnetic wave propagation in structures formed by alternating magnetic and dielectric layers is proposed. Models of macroscopically thick and atomically thin layers magnetized perpendicular to their plane are considered. Transfer matrices of circularly polarized waves and characteristics of light propagation in periodic magnetic structures under normal incidence are obtained by the self-consistent electrodynamic Green’s function method in analytic form. The results obtained are employed to analyze linear-in-magnetization magneto-optical effects in the transmittance and reflectance spectra of one-dimensional magnetic Bragg structures called magnetophotonic crystals. For structures of finite thickness, Faraday rotation and other observable magneto-optical quantities are shown to vary appreciably in the spectral region of the stop bands of a magnetophotonic crystal. This is paralleled by a substantial enhancement of the magnetic-fieldinduced modulation of the reflectance of light polarized in the analyzer plane.     

Acoustooptic and electrooptic guided wave conversion to leaky waves in an anisotropic optical waveguide

The possibility of effective acoustooptic and electrooptic guided wave conversion to leaky waves in an optical waveguide is shown experimentally. Conversion efficiency was 2.3% in an acoustic power of 24 mW for a TM₁?TE₁ process.     

Correlation of the left- and the right-handed circularly polarized waves in an anisotropic crystal

An optical torque is induced by incidence of the linearly polarized light and propagating through an anisotropic crystal, which results in self-modulation of the ordinary and the extraordinary waves and causes an energy splitting of the resultant left-, and the right-handed elliptically polarized waves. The optical torque originates from the angular momentum of light, which causes the correlation of the left- and the right-handed circularly polarized waves in the crystal.     

FWM conversion with pump suppression for filterless optical packet switching applications

The use of a Pump-Suppressed Four Wave Mixing PS-FWM wavelength converter in a wavelength conversion and selection switching scheme is examined and demonstrated. The scheme requires a single 2 × 1 Mach Zenhder Interferometer (MZI) and offers substantial pump suppression and efficiency improvement in terms of optical signal-to-noise ratio. Performance measurements on the combination of PS-FWM wavelength converter with an Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG) for passive routing, shows the potentially successful use of the scheme in an ultra-fast wavelength routed optical packet switching scheme where the use of optical filters for the separation of the converted signal from the pump is avoided.     

Multipactor discharge on a dielectric surface in the field of circularly polarized plane waves

The secondary-emission discharge (multipactor) on a dielectric surface irradiated by a plane TEM wave of circular polarization is analyzed theoretically. It is shown that interaction of electrons with the electromagnetic wave field can provide their return to the emission surface, which makes a multipactor possible even without any external static fields. Multipactor conditions for different reflection coefficients of the incident wave are found. The obtained results are used to estimate the throughput of the output window of a high-power vacuum microwave device. Specifically, it is established that decreasing the high-frequency field amplitude on the window surface when the mode of a partially standing wave is realized in the vicinity of the window does not always help raise its electric strength.     

Polarization switching of stimulated Raman scattering in optical fibers by dual-frequency pumping

Experiments are presented showing that under dual-frequency, orthogonal-polarization pumping, stimulated Raman scattering in optical birefringent fibers can be suppressed in one of the two fiber axes. For relatively small-frequency spacing and group-velocity mismatch between the pumps, Stokes light is suppressed along the polarization direction of the highest-frequency pump, owing to the orthogonal component of the Raman gain.     

Nonlinear optical transformation of the polarization state of circularly polarized light with holographic-cut cubic crystals

Nonlinear modification of circularly polarized light propagating in holographic-cut cubic crystals is theoretically predicted and experimentally observed. To the best of our knowledge this is the first demonstration of nonlinear modification of circularly polarized light with cubic crystals.     

Invariants of motion of a charge in the field of a circularly polarized wave

Six integrals of motion of a relativistic charge in the field of a transverse circularly polarized electromagnetic wave propagating with a phase velocity u > c are obtained from the solution of the Hamilton equations. These integrals form the basis of analysis of the trajectory of the charge depending on the phase of the wave in a stationary system of coordinates. The coordinates and phase are connected via elliptic functions.     

Strong optical non-linearities for efficient all-optical switching in GaAlAs waveguides

The light intensity transmission of GaAlAs strip waveguides is sensitively dependent on the strength of the electric field inside the waveguide, when the photon energy is close to the band gap (Franz-Keldysh effect). In a waveguide embedded in a pn-junction the transmitted light itself induces the field changes through the photoelectric effect. This photo-induced Franz-Keldysh effect causes a non-linear intensity transmission of the waveguide. Light power levels far below 1 mW are sufficient to give strong non-linearities. Possible application schemes for modulation and all-optical switching in integrated optics and optoelectronics are discussed.     

Drawing parameters optimization for birefringence reduction in optical fibers

The impact of the drawing process on the stress-induced birefringence in optical fiber is experimentally analyzed. By means of the photoelastic tomographic technique, residual internal stresses are measured in fiber samples drawn under different conditions of temperature, drawing tension and speed. From measured residual stress distributions, the stress-induced birefringence and beatlength are mathematically derived and compared, proving that an effective birefringence reduction can be obtained by a proper choice of drawing parameters.     

Secular free solutions up to third order for two circularly polarized waves in a dissipative plasma medium

The perturbation method of Lindstedt is applied to study the nonlinear effects for two circularly polarized transverse monochromatic waves in a cold dissipative plasma. Amplitude-dependent wavelength and frequency shifts including relativistic corrections are derived.