Two-wave mixing by means of dynamic Bragg gratings recorded by saturation of absorption in erbium-doped fibers

We present experimental results of two-wave mixing in single-mode Er-doped optical fibers for which dynamic Bragg reflectance gratings are formed as a result of saturation of fiber-optic absorption (i.e., by means of the effect of spatial hole burning). The gratings are probed by the same recording waves at lambda approximately = 1549 nm and are detected as periodic changes of the intensity of light reflected from a Sagnac interferometer (with a piece of the doped fiber included) observed when periodic phase modulation is induced in one of the waves. Both rectangular and sinusoidal modulation were used, which permitted evaluation of the grating recording time (tau(g) approximately = 3 ms for OFS-Fitel EDF-HG980 fiber) and the grating amplitude, which proved to be approximately 6-7 times lower than expected from measurements of saturation of fiber-optic absorption by one wave only.     

Enhancing the sensitivity of an adaptive holographic interferometer using non-Bragg diffraction orders

The signal-to-noise ratio of the output of an adaptive holographic interferometer (AHI) based on a Bi(12)TiO(20) crystal is investigated. We show experimentally that the sensitivity of an AHI using the non-Bragg orders of diffraction in a thin photorefractive material is more than an order of magnitude greater than that of an AHI employing two-wave mixing in photorefractive volume holograms.     

Adaptive interferometers with no external field using reflection gratings in CdTe:Ge at 1550 nm

We demonstrate experimentally the operation of an adaptive two-wave mixing interferometer with no field applied to a photorefractive crystal in which the quadrature condition is introduced by an external π/2 phase step. To achieve high signal to noise ratio the counter-propagating geometry for grating recording is used with a CdTe:Ge crystal, ensuring effective recording of reflection holograms. It is demonstrated that the interferometer with a photorefractive semiconductor crystal provides good sensitivity without the adverse effects that are normally associated with an applied field.     

Design of polarization retarder suitable for nonlinear optical systems

We present a design technique of retarders suitable for nonlinear optical systems. A thin sample of LiNbO₃ crystal is utilized as a retarder for wide-ranging applications. Analysis shows that the same crystal can be used for single-wave or two-wave retardations, changing the orientation of the crystal only. As an application, the retarder is used to polarize two waves orthogonal, as necessary for difference frequency mixing in an AgGaSe₂ crystal.     

Entangled state generation and modulation of vacuum squeezing by classical optical fields in birefringent fiber

Evolution of the vacuum fluctuations in the two-wave mixing of the optical fields propagating in a birefringent fiber is studied. The two-wave mixing in the birefringent fiber was suggested as a possible scheme for the entangled-state generation. Our treatment in studying the entangled-state generation uses depleted pump approximation and enables one to trace the influence of the input conditions of classical optical fields on the evolution of vacuum squeezing. We report the periodical modulation of the vacuum squeezing when the input relative phase of coherent waves varies. The measure of nonclassical correlations imposed on the generated light is calculated.     

Spatial optical solitons resulting from multistep cascading

We introduce a novel class of parametric optical solitons supported simultaneously by two second-order nonlinear cascading processes, second-harmonic generation and sum-frequency mixing. We obtain analytical and numerical solutions for three-wave spatial solitons and show that the presence of an additional cascading mechanism can change dramatically the properties and stability of two-wave quadratic solitary waves.     

Slow light using wave mixing in liquid crystal light valve

By performing optical two-wave mixing in a liquid crystal light valve, we are able to slow down optical pulses to group velocities as slow as a few tenths of mm/s, corresponding to a very large group index. We present experiment and model of the slow light process occurring in liquid crystal light valves. The large group index corresponds to having a large sensitivity for phase variations, a property that can be used to increase the sensitivity of Fourier transform interferometer. We show that when a liquid crystal light valve is inserted in a Mach–Zehnder interferometer, the effect of frequency perturbations at the input of the system is amplified by a factor related to the group delay.     

Polarization insensitive homodyne detection of optical phase modulation by two-wave mixing in saturable Er-doped fiber

We report linear polarization-insensitive detection of optical phase modulation in an adaptive interferometer based on transient two-wave mixing via dynamic population gratings in saturable Er-doped fiber (EDF). The proposed simple and robust configuration has an all-fiber design based on commercially available elements which makes it promising for applications in optical fiber interferometric sensors and coherent optical communication systems. The experimentally investigated single-mode polarization-maintaining EDF arrangement operated at 1492 nm and demonstrated efficient compensation of the polarization drifts below 100 Hz.     

Voltage reduction for photorefractive two-wave mixing in InP:Fe by optical gap control

We report a method to increase the photorefractive two-wave mixing gain coefficient in semiconductors by using additional incident laser radiation. Two auxiliary beams are used to optimize the spatial distribution of an applied electrical field via modulation of the photoconductivity of the sample. By applying a voltage of 3.5 kV on a 4.3 mm thick InP:Fe crystal we obtain a two-wave mixing gain of 9 cm^–1. This is about 50% larger than that obtained without auxiliary beams.     

Transverse effects in photorefractive two-wave mixing

In a biased photorefractive crystal, the process of two one-dimensional waves mixing, i.e., the dynamical evolution of both pump beam and signal beam, is traced by numerically solving the coupled-wave equation. Direct simulations show that the propagation and stability of the two beams are completely determined by the system parameters, such as the external bias field, the intensity and the beam waist of the pump beam. By adjusting these parameters, one can control the state of two Gaussian waves mixing. The numerical results are helpful for performing a two-wave mixing experiment.     

Hidden corrosion detection in aircraft aluminum structures using laser ultrasonics and wavelet transform signal analysis

Preliminary results of hidden corrosion detection in aircraft aluminum structures using a noncontact laser based ultrasonic technique are presented. A short laser pulse focused to a line spot is used as a broadband source of ultrasonic guided waves in an aluminum 2024 sample cut from an aircraft structure and prepared with artificially corroded circular areas on its back surface. The out of plane surface displacements produced by the propagating ultrasonic waves were detected with a heterodyne Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Time-frequency analysis of the signals using a continuous wavelet transform allowed the identification of the generated Lamb modes by comparison with the calculated dispersion curves. The presence of back surface corrosion was detected by noting the loss of the S(1) mode near its cutoff frequency. This method is applicable to fast scanning inspection techniques and it is particularly suited for early corrosion detection.     

Bidirectional vectorial light amplification in cubic crystals with unshifted photorefractive gratings

We present a new method of light amplification based on vectorial two-wave mixing in cubic crystal via an unshifted photorefractive grating. The energy transfer between interacting waves is achieved in an experimental configuration that provides the amplitudes of modulation of refractive indices of opposite signs, Dn(1)=-Dn(2), for two orthogonal polarization modes of the interacting waves. The configuration demonstrates bidirectional amplification; i.e., the weak wave is always amplified, independent of its direction with respect to the strong pump beam. We present the results of numerical analysis along with the experimental results for a Bi(12)TiO(20) crystal with a dc applied electric field.     

Calculation of the gain in optically active photorefractive crystals considering the self-diffraction in a two-wave mixing process

We present a physical and computational procedure to calculate the gain in a two-wave mixing process in a thick optically active photorefractive BSO crystal under diffusion regime. The procedure is based on the integration of the amplitude of the signal beam through the sample. In the model, the effects of self-diffraction are taken into account by using the more general expression of the diffraction efficiency for the case of dynamic gratings. It allows also including the effects of the optical activity on the coupling factors and not only on the rotation of the optical field vectors when the waves are propagated along the crystal. The <001> crystallographic configuration is used. The model is used to predict the behavior of the gain as a function of the beam polarization angle. Numerical and experimental results using crystals with thickness of 5 mm and 10 mm are presented. A good agreement between the proposed model and the experimental measurements is observed.     

Transverse instabilities in photorefractive counterpropagating two-wave mixing

Threshold analysis for transverse instabilities in photorefractive counterpropagating two-wave mixing through reflection gratings is performed. A numerical algorithm for the treatment of wave equations in this geometry is developed, displaying the emergence of running transverse waves. They appear above a threshold in the applied electric field, and their transverse wave number and oscillation frequency agree well with the values predicted by stability analysis.     

Photorefractive properties of paraelectric potassium lithium tantalate niobate crystal doped with iron

We report the successful growth of paraelectric potassium lithium tantalate niobate (KLTN) single crystal doped with iron. Detailed investigations have been made on the photorefractive properties of the as-grown crystal. The key parameters such as space-charge field, grating response time, photorefractive sensitivity and sign of the dominant charge carrier were obtained by two-wave mixing technique. 1.7 mm thick sample exhibits a high diffraction efficiency of 78% at the external field of 3.3 kV/cm and a sensitivity of 1.49 × 10⁻¹⁰E₀ cm²/J. The two-wave mixing gain coefficient increases linearly with external field, and reaches a large value of 19.4 cm⁻¹ at 4 kV/cm. Based on experimental results, iron is an effective dopant to KLTN which shows high diffraction efficiency and two-wave mixing gain coefficient.     

非相干背景光辐照对LiNbO3∶Fe与LiNbO3∶Fe∶In晶体中二波耦合的控制

理论分析和实验观测了非相干背景光辐照下掺杂LiNbO₃晶体中的二波耦合,发现非相干背景光能够在很大范围内灵活有效地控制信号光增益,抑制扇形效应,提高信噪比,缩短光栅的建立时间.入射光光强比一定时,适当地增大背景光光强可以使光栅响应时间减小一个数量级.尤其对于抽运光光强远大于信号光光强的情况下,上述作用更为明显. 关键词： 光折变 二波耦合 非相干背景光     

Fast adaptive interferometer with a photorefractive GaP crystal

The performance of an adaptive interferometer based on mixing of light waves with different polarization states in a photorefractive GaP crystal at lambda=0.633mum is described. Both high sensitivity and fast response time are achieved with a low-power He-Ne laser. The parameters of the interferometer are appropriate for remote ultrasound detection in an industrial environment.     

Frequency dependence of laser ultrasonic SAW phase velocities measurements

Advances in the field of laser ultrasonics have opened up new possibilities in applications in many areas. This paper verifies the relationship between phase velocities of different materials, including hard solid and soft solid, and the frequency range of SAW signal. We propose a novel approach that utilizes a low coherence interferometer to detect the laser-induced surface acoustic waves (SAWs). A Nd:YAG focused laser line-source is applied to steel, iron, plastic plates and a 3.5% agar–agar phantom. The generated SAW signals are detected by a time domain low coherence interferometry system. SAW phase velocity dispersion curves were calculated, from which the elasticity of the specimens was evaluated. The relationship between frequency content and phase velocities was analyzed. We show that the experimental results agreed well with those of the theoretical expectations.     

Two regimes of two-beam coupling in cubic < ![IGNORE[3m crystals

We show that in crystals of symmetry 3m (lacking optical activity) two regimes are possible for two-wave mixing in the longitudinal geometry: one regime is similar to ordinary two-wave mixing where energy exchange is always in the same direction whereas the other one is oscillatory with energy transfer in both directions. Received: 27 November 1998 / Revised version: 18 February 1999 / Published online: 12 April 1999     

Observation of two-wave coupling during the formation of POLICRYPS diffraction gratings

We report on the experimental observation of two-wave mixing that occurs inside a sample between the beams used for the fabrication of polymer-liquid-crystal-polymer slices (POLICRYPS) diffraction gratings. The effect depends on the phase shift between the curing interference pattern and the grating being cured. This shift can be mechanically induced by accidental vibrations of the experimental setup; thus a high setup stability is needed. We devised a mechanism that enables us to control setup vibrations in situ and used it to monitor the experiment. When the mechanically induced shift was significantly small, wave mixing was observed only if the initial intensities of the two curing beams were different from each other.