Mirrorless coherent oscillation due to vectorial four-wave mixing in LiNbO3

Mirrorless coherent oscillation in a four-wave mixing arrangement with two phase-conjugate counterpropagating pump waves is studied in a LiNbO₃:Fe crystal. Oscillation waves are observed within a wide, but limited angular window where the gain factor takes its maximum value. The spatial structure and the intensities of particular oscillating components vary continuously in time.     

Nonlinear light scattering in a two-component medium: optical limiting application

Received: 13 February 1998/Revised version: 12 June 1998     

Reverse-saturable absorption in aluminophthalocyanine-doped xerogels

Aluminophthalocyanines were encaged in different silica xerogel matrices. Nonlinear reverse-saturable absorption behavior was observed for both nanosecond and picosecond pulse excitation at 532 nm. In order to determine the relaxation paths of the molecules after optical excitation, we measured the evolution of the transmission of a continuous probe beam through the samples following absorption induced by a pump pulse. The transmission recovery was a few tens of microseconds. The fluorescence lifetime was about 10 ns.     

An approximate method for computing mode-dispersion parameters in two-dimensional diffused-channel waveguides

We develop an approximate analysis based on the effective-index method to obtain the universal chart of the normalized parameters describing the mode dispersion of a two-dimensional diffused-channel wave-guide with an erfc-Gaussian index profile. We have shown that the Gaussian can well be approximated by an hyperbolic-secant-squared profile and we have compared our results with those obtained by using the effective-index method.     

Reverse saturable absorption and optical limiting in indanthrone dyes

Fluence dependence of transmission in three dyes, viz. indanthrone, dichloroindanthrone and violanthrone, is reported at 532 nm as well as at 1.06 µm. These dyes show optical limiting at both these wavelengths for nanosecond pulses. The limiting is due to the combined effect of reverse saturable absorption from the triplet state and thermal defocussing in the dye solutions.     

Calorimetric measurement of two-photon absorption and color-center formation in ultraviolet-window materials

Intensity-dependent absorption of 25 ns excimer laser pulses in common UV-window materials was investigated. By employing a calorimetric technique which provides greatly enhanced sensitivity compared to transmissive measurements, two-photon absorption coefficients were determined at intensities of 2–80 MW/cm² and found to be in good agreement with previous measurements at 10–100 GW/cm². Also, color-center formation in fused silica was observed. It was possible to quantify transient and cumulative effects as a function of intensity.     

Increasing absorption optical bistability operating in the front surface layer of high absorption samples

The increasing absorption optical bistability in a bulk ZnSe sample with quite high absorption has been observed. Our experiments show that the bistability operates only in the front surface layer of sample and that the back layer of sample can be regarded as a linear absorber and heat sink.     

Excited-state absorption and stimulated emission of tetrahedral Co2+ ion in LiGa5O8

Differential absorption spectra measurements of tetrahedral Co²⁺-doped LiGa₅O₈ have been made using a ps pump-probe technique. The stimulated emission from the ⁴T₁(⁴P) level to the ⁴A₂(⁴F) and ⁴T₂(⁴F) states is observed to be overlapped by the excited-state absorption. The excited-state absorption is tentatively assigned to transition from the ⁴T₁(⁴P) level of the Co²⁺ ion to the conduction band of LiGa₅O₈. For Co²⁺:LiGa₅O₈, laser operation is expected to be possible in the vicinity of 720 nm and in the 860–970 nm spectral region. Received: 5 June 1998 / Revised version: 20 October 1998 / Published online: 19 May 1999     

Picosecond Z-scan study of bound electronic Kerr effect in LiNbO3 crystal associated with two-photon absorption

3 crystal have been measured using Z-scan technique with picosecond pulses at 532 nm. The nonlinear absorption coefficient and nonlinear refractive index are determined to be 2.5×10^-10 cm/W and 5.3×10^-15 cm²/W, respectively. Both sign and magnitude of the measured refractive nonlinearity are considerably different from the reported Z-scan results in LiNbO₃ obtained with cw laser beam at 514 nm. The nonlinearities in LiNbO₃ induced by 532 nm picosecond pulses are believed to be mainly due to two-photon absorption and bound electronic Kerr effect associated with the two-photon absorption. Received: 4 July 1996     

Degenerate four-wave mixing based on excited-state absorption in azo-dye-doped polymer films

Degenerate Four-Wave Mixing (DFWM) based on excited-state absorption in azo-dye doped polymer films is firstly reported. Under a pre-exciting argon laser at 514.5 nm, DFWM is performed using a 632.8 nm HeNe laser which is absorbed only slightly when the molecules are in the ground state. The dynamic behavior of the DFWM signal due to excited-state absorption is also treated theoretically.     

Polarization-degenerate parametric light scattering in photorefractive crystals

Parametric scattering of two copropagating coherent light waves into cones of light with the same polarization is considered both experimentally (in photo-refractive LiNbO₃:Fe) and theoretically.     

Coupling of orthogonally polarized waves in BaTiO3

The first observation of anisotropic diffraction (with a 90|Mo change of the polarization of the diffracted wave) in BaTiO₃ from a grating recorded by two orthogonally polarized waves, an ordinary and an extraordinary wave, is reported. Three possible origins of this effect are considered: (i) direct one-step diffraction from a grating recorded anisotropically by spatially oscillating photovoltaic currents, (ii) indirect, sequential diffraction from two gratings, each recorded by one incident wave and an additional wave due to light-induced scattering, (iii) direct one-step diffraction from a grating with the grating vector equal to the difference of the grating vectors of two conjugated noisy gratings. The experimental evidence indicates that the process (iii) contributes most, and process (i) more than 10% to the overall diffraction efficiency, whereas process (ii) seems to be of minor importance.     

Nonlinear scattering in BaTiO3 induced by two orthogonally polarized waves

A new nonlinear scattering effect is described which is induced by the simultaneous action of ordinary and extraordinary waves impigning on a BaTiO₃ crystal in the plane perpendicular to the c-axis. The scattered light of ordinary polarization propagates along a circular cone and the light intensity on this cone is nonuniform. We present a model that describes the experimental observations rather well, including phase matching conditions and the unusual intensity distribution of the scattered light.     

Optical bistability by nonlinear reflection in a polymeric blend

We have analysed the propagation of two continuous-wave Ar⁺-laser beams travelling in opposite directions in a two-component nonlinear heterogeneous medium (the polymeric blend PMMA-EVA), in a mirror retroreflection geometry. Bistable reflection associated with the laser-induced suppression of scattering is observed. This phenomenon has a thermal origin. Based on light- and heat-transport theory inside the material, a simplified explanation of the experimental evidence is presented, showing the conditions for the onset of optical bistability. Qualitative agreement with our experimental results is found.     

Dynamics of parametric conical scattering of orthogonally polarized waves in BaTiO3

The temporal evolution of nonlinear scattering which is induced by simultaneous action of an ordinary and an extraordinary wave impignig on a photorefractive crystal in the plane perpendicular to the c-axis is investigated. Diffusion is presumed to be the main charge transport mechanism. The extended analysis takes into account scattered light with monotonically increasing intensity as well as transient scattering. The comparison of theoretical results with measurements of a BaTiO₃ crystal yields good agreement.     

Nonlinear refraction and absorption in hetero- thiometallic planar clusters

The nonlinear absorption and refraction of the clusters [MoS₄Cu₄Br₂(py)₆] and [Et₄N]₂[MoS₄Cu₄(SCN)₄(2-pic)₄] have been investigated using the z-scan technique with a ns laser at 532 nm wavelength. They have the same planar ‘open’ structures and the same skeleton metal atoms; the only difference is that the former has halogen ligands while the latter possesses pseudo-halogen groups – SCN – as ligands. Alteration of nonlinear refractive index and enhancement of nonlinear absorption were found in these two clusters. A steady state model of excited state nonlinear refraction was proposed to explain this phenomenon. Received: 12 June 2001 / Revised version: 4 September 2001 / Published online: 29 November 2001     

Two orthogonally polarized optical beams in a family of Kerr-law nonlinear shifted parabolic graded-index rod lenses

The field, the propagation and the imaging characteristics of two Gaussian optical beams with orthogonal polarization passing through a family of Kerr-law nonlinear shifted parabolic graded-index rod lenses are investigated. The coupled differential equations of the dimensionless beam-width parameters of two Gaussian optical beams are derived by using a variational approach and then solved. It is concluded that there are two regimes of propagation and that the power, the incident waist radius and the position of one beam have large effects on the field, the propagation and the imaging characteristics of the other beam.     

Enhancement of collapse threshold of two Gaussian beams of light with orthogonal polarization in a nonlinear defocusing shifted parabolic graded-index rod lens

Received: 22 December 1996/Revised version: 12 March 1997     

Generation of tunable infrared radiation in rubidium titanyl phosphate crystal for the optical measurement of number density, absorption cross-section of methane gas

Tunable near-infrared radiation has been generated in a rubidium titany1 phosphate (RTP) crystal by employing non-collinear difference-frequency mixing (DFM) technique. The input radiation sources are Nd:YAG laser radiation and its second harmonic pumped dye laser radiation. For the generation of 2.0 radiation, the maximum value of the conversion efficiency (quantum) obtained in the process is 49% from the dye (0.6945 μm) to the infrared (2.0 μm) radiation in the 7.9-mm-long crystal. The generated tunable mid-infrared radiation has been used to measure the number density, absorption cross-section and minimum detectable concentration of methane gas in its 2ν₃ band in a multi-pass cell at 30.075 Torr pressure. The number density and column density of the methane molecules are found to be 1.068×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ and 3.02×10²¹ cm⁻², respectively, whereas the minimum still-detectable concentration at 1.658 μm wavelength is estimated to be 4.523×10¹⁷/cm³.