Nonlinear optical effects in artificial materials

We consider some nonlinear phenomena in metamaterials with negative refractive index properties. Our consideration includes a survey of previously known results as well as identification of the phenomena that are important for applications of this new field. We focus on optical behavior of thin films as well as multi-wave interactions.     

Nonlinear polarization bistability in optical nanowires

Using the full vectorial nonlinear Schr?dinger equations that describe nonlinear processes in isotropic optical nanowires, we show that there exist structural anisotropic nonlinearities that lead to unstable polarization states that exhibit periodic bistable behavior. We analyze and solve the nonlinear equations for continuous waves by means of a Lagrangian formulation and show that the system has bistable states and also kink solitons that are limiting forms of the bistable states.     

Nonlinear effects in optical fibers

The basic differential equations necessary to represent nonlinear propagation of short and ultrashort optical pulses in dielectric waveguides are derived. After introducing fundamental and higher-order soliton solutions of the nonlinear Schroedinger equations, the possibilities of realizing soliton-based communication systems are discussed. Higher-order nonlinear effects associated with selj-Raman gain and optical amplification in connection with the use of active fibers are also described.     

Nonlinear optical properties of polyaniline composite materials

The nonlinear optical properties of polyaniline composite materials (PANI/Au) were studied using the single-beam Z-scan technique.     

Nonlinear repolarization in optical fibers: polarization attraction with copropagating beams

We propose a type of lossless nonlinear polarizer, novel to our knowledge, a device that transforms any input state of polarization (SOP) of a signal beam into one and the same well-defined SOP toward the output, and perform this without any polarization-dependent losses. At the polarizer output end, the signal SOP appears to be locked to the input pump SOP. The polarizer is based on the nonlinear Kerr interaction of copropagating signal and pump beams in a telecom or randomly birefringent optical fiber.     

Nonlinear optical and electrostatic force microscopy for ferroelectric polarization imaging

Second-harmonic generation (SHG)-based nonlinear optical microscopy is used for spatially resolved imaging of the polarization switching in lead zirconium titanate ferroelectric thin films. The local SHG hysteresis loops reveal a strong dependence on film composition and structure. The SHG microscopy results are in good agreement with the efficiency of electrostatic force microscopy writing and allow us to predict the microscopic dielectric memory efficiency, both in contact and contact-less ways. Received: 15 January 2001 / Revised version: 27 March 2002 / Published online: 6 June 2002     

Nonlinear processes in UV optical materials at 248 nm

Nonlinear processes in UV optical materials were investigated by using 280-fs, 248-nm pulses. Nonlinear absorption in CaF₂ was confirmed to be a two-photon process by using the luminescence of self-trapped excitons, which was also used for the single shot pulse width measurement. The absorption bands due to F centers were identified in CaF₂, MgF₂, and LiF after several hundred shots at 100 GW/cm². Absorption at 248 nm was considerable especially in MgF₂ and LiF. Self-focusing and self-phase modulation were observed in CaF₂.     

All optical latches using quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifier

The design and performance of two optical latches, the Set-Reset (SR) latch and D-Flip-Flop has been studied. These latches are the building blocks of large optical processors. The latches are built using two optical logic operations NAND and NOT. Both NAND and NOT operations are realized by using Mach-Zhender interferometer (MZI) utilizing semiconductor optical amplifier with quantum dot active region (QD-SOA). Nonlinear dynamics including carrier heating and spectral hole-burning in the QD-SOA are taken into account together with the rate equations in order to realize the all-optical logic operations. Results show that this scheme can realize the functions of Set-Reset latch and D-Flip-Flop at high speeds (∼250 Gb/s). The dependence of the output quality (Q factor) on QD-SOA parameters is also discussed.     

Nonlinear optical effects in amorphous-like SiCON films

We have found that IR bicolor coherent poling of the SiCON films with the pulsed IR 200 ps laser pulses causes sufficiently high values of the second-order optical susceptibilities. The dependence of the second-order susceptibility versus the fundamental power density as well as versus the time of the optical poling and writing/fundamental beam ratios indicate on substantial role of the N / C ratio. Maximally achieved value of the second-order optical susceptibility was equal to about 9 pm / V.

In the case of our films we have shown that optimal incident angle of the writing beam with respect to the sample's surface for the achievement of optimal grating is equal to about 67°. Optimal ratio between the fundamental and writing beams was equal about 30. The grating is destroyed during the 10 min after the interruption of optical treatment.     

Ultrafast nonlinear processes in quantum-dot optical amplifiers

Ultrafast gain dynamics in quantum-dot optical amplifiers has been studied by using the pump-probe and four-wave mixing (FWM) techniques. It was found that there are at least three nonlinear processes, which are attributed to carrier relaxation to the ground states, phonon scattering, and carrier capture from the wetting layers into the quantum dots (QDs). The relevant time constants were evaluated to be ～90 fs, ～260 fs, and ～2 ps, respectively, under a 50 mA bias condition. The compressed gain recovered to 3% of its initial value in 4 ps, and no recovery component slower than 2 ps could be seen in the temporal range tested. This is quite different from the feature in quantum wells, where a very slow component (> 50 ps) exists. This suggests a possibility of enhancing the operation speed of semiconductor optical amplifiers by using QDs as an active layer. The third-order optical susceptibility (χ⁽³⁾) has been evaluated by means of both nonlinear transmission and FWM experiments. The results show that the nonlinearity expressed by χ⁽³⁾/g ₀ is quite similar to that of bulk and quantum wells, which can be explained by the similar relaxation times.     

Nonlinear optical effects for plasma diagnostics

Experimental investigations show that the 1/f noise intensityC and the contact resistanceR can be used to analyse contacts. The simply prepared contacts are fritted by discharging a capacitor, resulting in a multi-spot contact. A model relatesC andR to a number of contact spotsk with radiusa. More impulse-frittings at increasing energies decreaseC andR, thus enhancing the values ofk anda. From experimentalC vsR plots two regions are determined for GaAs: A fritting (a=constant) and A+B fritting (a∝k). Calculated values ofk are in good agreement with the number of peaks or pits formed by etching the semiconductor surface. From experimentalC vsW orR vsW curves, withW the cumulative impulse-fritting energy, the conclusion can be made thatka ³ is proportional toW.     

Nonlinear polarization effects and mitigation in polarization-division-multiplexed coherent transmission systems

Using numerical simulations, the nonlinear transmission performance of polarization-division-multiplexed quadrature-phase-shift-keying （PDM-QPSK） coherent systems is studied. It is found that inter-channel cross-polarization modulation （XPolM） induced nonlinear polarization scattering can significantly degrade the transmission performance of PDM-QPSK coherent systems and change the perspective of dispersion management in optical coherent transmission systems. Some techniques to mitigate nonlinear polarization scattering in dispersion-managed PDM coherent transmission systems are discussed, including the use of time-interleaved return-to-zero （RZ） PDM formats, the use of periodic-group-delay PGD dispersion compensators, and the judicious addition of some polarization-mode-dispersion （PMD） in the transmission link. It is shown that if nonlinear polarization scattering can be well mitigated, a polarization multiplexed optical coherent transmission system with dispersion management could perform better than that without it.     

Electromechanical and optical effects in photorefractive materials

From thermodynamic considerations, we derive a consistent set of equations coupling the steady-state photoinduced photorefractive space-charge field to mechanical deformations, dc permittivity, and refractive index changes. For the first time to our knowledge, these equations include piezoelectricity, electrostriction, the elasto-optic effect, the linear and quadratic electro-optic effects, as well as the influence of the volume forces and electric torques. We determine the conditions on the material parameters, for which volume forces and torques are of some importance on the optical properties. These equations resulting from a macroscopic approach are valid whatever the physical microscopic origins of the various effects. Non centrosymmetrical and centrosymmetrical materials are considered. The order of approximation is the lowest possible able to describe the mentioned effects in both types of materials. Received: 18 November 1998 / Revised version: 18 February 1999 / Published online: 12 April 1999     

Rabi-oscillation-enhanced frequency conversion in quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifiers

We investigate the nonlinear light propagation in InAs/InGaAs quantum-dot-in-a-well semiconductor optical amplifiers in the limit of strong optical excitation where Rabi oscillations are excited in the active medium. The amplifier is analyzed in a degenerate four-wave-mixing setup and characterized by its frequency conversion and creation performance. Our simulations show that the interplay between the nonlinear four-wave-mixing process and the coherent Rabi oscillations greatly influences the frequency conversion process. Rabi oscillations can be resonantly excited by the correct choice of the frequency detuning between pump and probe signals, which greatly enhances the nonlinear frequency conversion efficiency at frequencies up to several THz. We furthermore show that the coherent pulse shaping of ultrashort optical pulses in the quantum-dot medium can greatly enhance their spectral bandwidth, potentially allowing for ultra-broad-band frequency comb generation.     

Nonlinear optical microscopy and spectroscopy of ferroelectric and multiferroic materials

The specific features of the application of two-photon microscopy and spectroscopy to the investigation of multiferroic and piezoelectric nanostructures have been considered. It has been shown that the nonlinear optical response of planar multilayer barium strontium titanate/bismuth ferrite nanostructures is characterized by local electrically induced and magnetically induced contributions in specific spectral ranges. For peptide piezoelectric bio-microtubes, it has been found that the maximum value of the second harmonic generation intensity does not change along the tube, whereas the direction of polarization changes significantly.     

Nonlinear optical properties of a series of azobenzene liquid-crystalline materials

The nonlinear optical properties of a series of azobenzene liquid-crystalline materials, which have different side-chain lengths in their molecular structure from one to another, were investigated using Z-scan method under picosecond pulse laser at 532 nm, 1064 nm and CW 488 nm excitation. The mechanism accounting for the process of nonlinear refraction was discussed under different laser excitations. The polymer films possess very large nonlinear refraction at all the three different laser excitations. Especially, the nonlinear refractive index becomes larger as the length of side-chain, where azobenzene group is contained, increases under pulse excitation at 1064 nm.     

Image dipole approach and polarization effects in scanning near-field optical microscopy

A coupled-dipole approach is proposed in order to study the coupling between the probe tip and the rough sample in SNOM. In the present model both the optical probe tip and the sample protrusions are represented by polarizable dipole spheres. The induced polarization effects on the sample surface can be replaced by the image dipoles in the circumstance of quasi-static electromagnetic field approximation. Applying the radiation theory of the dipole, we have established a set of self-consistent equations to describe the field distribution at the sites of the probe tip and the sample protrusions. The results are completely the same as those obtained by means of the dyadic electromagnetic propagator formalism and also the derivation procedure is relatively simple. This method permits us to analyze the physical mechanisms of the interaction between the probe tip and the rough surface in SNOM intuitively. Based on this approach, we further discuss the influence of polarization of the incident light on the imaging quality. The calculating result shows that the shape and the contrast of the images of the sample are both sensitive to the field polarization, and the z-polarized mode is proved to give better resolution in SNOM.     

THz optical pulses from a coupled-cavity quantum-dot laser

Optical pulses are generated from a coupled-cavity quantum-dot (QD) laser consisting of a short QD-waveguide Fabry–Perot (F–P) cavity and three long external fiber Bragg grating (FBG) cavities. When the laser is biased at low operation current, the feedback from the external cavities dominates and laser pulses have a 1.01 THz repetition rate, determined by the equal frequency difference of the three FBGs. We are thus able to decouple the repetition rate of a mode-locked laser from the cavity length. With much higher bias current, the QD F–P cavity dominates and the repetition rate is switched to 43.8 GHz, defined by the length of the F–P cavity.     

Linearity and nonlinearity of quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifiers

Linearity and nonlinearity of quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifiers (QD-SOAs) are analyzed in this paper using numerical and analytical solutions. The basic formulas are derived from rate equations of multiple-states QD-SOAs. The solutions reveal that linearity and nonlinearity of QD-SOAs, which is quantificationally characterized by the maximal linear output power and the nonlinear factor, are strongly dependent on injected current, modal gain and spontaneous radiative lifetime. Additionally, the solutions also provide some useful suggestions in designing and using of QD-SOAs, either be used in linear or nonlinear operational region.