Two-dimensional quasi-phase-matched multiple-cascaded four-wave mixing in periodically poled KTiOPO(4)

A two-dimensional quasi-phase-matched structure is realized in a noncollinear, nondegenerate periodically poled KTiOPO(4) parametric oscillator by utilizing the mutual coherence of two noncollinear pump beams. The mutually coherent pump beams form an interference pattern inside the crystal that is directed perpendicular to the existing quasi-phase-matched grating vector and acts as a parametric gain grating. The cavity itself supports two signal wavelengths around 1550 nm with tunable separation, while the gain grating reduces the operational threshold of the oscillator. Furthermore, with this two-dimensional quasi-phase-matched structure, we can demonstrate the generation of new spectral components through multiple chi((2)):chi((2))-cascaded four-wave mixing processes.     

Photoinduced stable second-harmonic generation in chalcogenide glasses

We report on photoinduced second-harmonic generation (SHG) in chalcogenide glasses. Fundamental and second-harmonic waves from a nanosecond pulsed Nd:YAG laser were used to induce second-order nonlinearity in chalcogenide glasses. The magnitude of SHG in 20G?20A?60S glass was 10(4) larger than that of tellurite glass with a composition of 15Nb(2)O (5) 85TeO(2) (mol.%). Moreover, no apparent decay of photoinduced SHG in 20G?20A?60S glass was observed after optical poling at room temperature. We suggest that the large and stable value of chi((2)) is due to the induced defect structures and large chi((3)) of the chalcogenide glasses.     

Femtosecond Kerr-lens mode locking with negative nonlinear phase shifts

We report a Kerr-lens mode-locked Cr:forsterite laser operated with negative nonlinear phase shift. The nonlinear phase shift is induced by the cascade chi((2;)):chi((2)) process in a lithium triborate crystal. Employing the cascade process at large phase mismatch produces a nearly linear frequency chirp. Transform-limited pulses as short as 60 fs are generated with positive cavity dispersion.     

Enhancement of chi((2)) cascading processes in one-dimensional photonic bandgap structures

We theoretically analyze the nonlinear phase shifts induced by cascaded chi((2)):chi((2)) processes in one-dimensional photonic bandgap structures. We find that the enhancement of the density of modes near the band edge, coupled with a suitable choice of relative phase mismatch, leads to a remarkable new effect: The relative phase shift of the fundamental field on transmission can be of the order of pi over a distance of 7mum , with input intensities of the order of only 10 MW/cm(2).     

Conical second harmonic generation in a two-dimensional chi(2) photonic crystal: a hexagonally poled LiTaO3 crystal

A new type of conical second-harmonic generation was discovered in a 2D chi((2)) photonic crystal-a hexagonally poled LiTaO3 crystal. It reveals the presence of another type of nonlinear interaction-a scattering involved optical parametric generation in a nonlinear medium. Such a nonlinear interaction can be significantly enlarged in a modulated chi((2)) structure by a quasi-phase-matching process. The conical beam records the spatial distribution of the scattering signal and discloses the structure information and symmetry of the 2D chi((2)) photonic crystal.     

Periodically poled BaMgF(4) for ultraviolet frequency generation

Ferroelectric domain inversion has been demonstrated in BaMgF(4) . Transparency has been measured to <140nm, and no change in transmission was measured under 157-nm irradiation for >1.1x10(9) shots at 2mJ/cm(2) per pulse. First-order quasi-phase-matched generation of 157 nm is predicted by use of grating periods as long as 1.5mum. This material should permit shorter-wavelength chi((2)) frequency-mixing processes than with any other crystalline material.     

Real-time monitoring of all-optical poling of azo-dye polymer thin film

Simultaneous writing and probing of photoinduced second-order susceptibility chi((2)) in an azo-dye polymer thin film is demonstrated. The method is based on the fact that tensor properties of chi((2)) provide different planes of polarization for seeding and signal second harmonics. Our technique allows the chi((2)) value to be monitored in real time, completely eliminating the distortion of optical poling that can occur in traditional probing configurations. The possibility of attaining high values of chi((2)) in a DR1-PMMA guest?host system under low seeding intensities is shown.     

Terahertz nonlinear optics with strained p-type quantum wells

Valence-subband nonparabolicity is shown theoretically to lead to nonlinearities associated with terahertz third-harmonic generation in strained p -type quantum wells. For strained InAs quantum wells it is found that the corresponding value of chi((3)) can be as large as ~10(-12)(m/V)(2). The predicted values of chi((3)) are in the range of those associated with intersubband transitions in the mid-infrared region of the spectrum.     

Control of the polarization dependence of optically poled nonlinear polymer films

We demonstrate the possibility of controlling the symmetry properties of photoinduced chi((2)) macroscopic susceptibility in polymer films. Ellipsometric adjustment of the write beams allows one to monitor the macroscopic chi((2)) symmetry from a dipolar to an octupolar configuration. Experimental results are in agreement with an irreducible spherical tensor-based model jointly applied to the molecular beta hyperpolarizability and field tensors. We found a purely octupolar polarization-independent photoinduced second-harmonic-generation response in a Dispersed Red 1-methyl methacrylate thin film. Such a configuration, as generated by an octupolar tensor write field tensor made up of counterclockwise circularly polarized omega and 2omega beams, is not within the reach of the classical electric-field poling technique.     

Fiber laser with combined feedback of core and cladding modes assisted by an intracavity long-period grating

We present a fiber laser made in a single piece of conventional doped-core fiber that operates by combined feedback of the fundamental core mode LP((0,1)) and the high-order cladding mode LP((0,10)). The laser is an all-fiber structure that uses two fiber Bragg gratings and a long-period grating to select the modes circulating in the cavity; the laser emits at the coupling wavelength between the core mode LP((0,1)) and the counterpropagating cladding mode LP((0,10)) in the Bragg gratings. This work demonstrates the feasibility of high-order mode fiber lasers assisted by long-period gratings.     

Reconstruction of blurred images by controlled formation of spatial solitons

Diffracted digital images are reconstructed by excitation of spatial solitons in a bulk chi((2)) crystal, in the regime of single-pass parametric amplification of the quantum noise.     

Nonstationary rotational diffusion in room temperature liquids measured by femtosecond three-pulse transient anisotropy

A femtosecond three-pulse chi((5)) polarization anisotropy experiment is used to examine the time dependence of the rotational diffusion of coumarin 153 in polar liquids. By probing the polarization anisotropy decay at various points during the molecule's excited state lifetime, a time-dependent diffusion coefficient is found in several solvents. This anomalous behavior is consistent with the relaxation of the solvent friction to accommodate the solute's excited state charge distribution. Rotational diffusion times measured immediately after photoexcitation by two-pulse chi((3)) experiments may reflect a nonstationary bath dynamics, rather than the equilibrium friction of the solvent.     

Intrinsic pulse-width dependence of third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility in the femtosecond regime

We demonstrate that the second-order coupling of local polarizations contributes significantly to the third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility chi((3)) through cascaded processes, as much as does direct third-order coupling. Temporal analysis of nonlinear polarization shows that chi((3)) depends intrinsically on pulse width if the pulse width is shorter than about 10 times the relaxation time of nonlinear polarization. Analysis of the pulse-width dependence of the third-order polarization in a femtosecond regime may differentiate the second-order local cascading process and the direct third-order process.     

Quasi phase matching in GaAs--AlAs superlattice waveguides through bandgap tuning by use of quantum-well intermixing

We report the observation of second-harmonic generation by type I quasi phase matching in a GaAs-AlAs superlattice waveguide. Quasi phase matching was achieved through modulation of the nonlinear coefficient chi((2))(zxy), which we realized by periodically tuning the superlattice bandgap. Second-harmonic generation was demonstrated for fundamental wavelengths from 1480 to 1520 nm, from the third-order gratings with periods from 10.5 to 12.4microm . The second-harmonic signal spectra demonstrated narrowing owing to the finite bandwidth of the quasi-phase-matching grating. An average power of ~110 nW was obtained for the second harmonic by use of an average launched pump power of ?2.3mW .     

Stable topological spatial solitons in optical parametric oscillators

We predict that nearly resonant optical parametric oscillators support stable topological spatial solitons as a result of the interplay between diffraction and parametric amplification due to chi((2)) nonlinearities. Robust soliton stripes are observed in two transverse dimensions. Their stability is ensured by the phase-sensitive nature of the underlying parametric process.     

Dielectric constant of glasses: evidence for dipole-dipole interactions

The 1 kHz real part chi(') of the dielectric constant of a structural glass (a-SiO(2+x)C(1+y)H(z)) was measured at low temperature T. Reducing the sample thickness h below 100 nm weakens the slope /delta(chi('))/delta (T) for T less than or approximately equal 0.1 K, for all measuring fields E. This contrasts with the predictions of the two-level system (TLS) model but is in agreement with the recently proposed delocalization of excitations derived from a field-induced TLS-TLS interaction mechanism. For small h this interaction is screened, which explains the h effects on chi('). Hence, interactions must play a key role in standard thick samples as soon as T less than or approximately equal 0.1 K.     

Large optical second-order nonlinearity of poled WO3-TeO2 glass

Second-harmonic generation, one of the second-order nonlinear optical properties of thermally and electrically poled WO>(3)-TeO>(2) glasses, has been examined. We poled glass samples with two thicknesses (0.60 and 0.86 mm) at various temperatures to explore the effects of external electric field strength and poling temperature on second-order nonlinearity. The dependence of second-harmonic intensity on the poling temperature is maximum at a specific poling temperature. A second-order nonlinear susceptibility of 2.1 pm/V was attained for the 0.60-mm-thick glass poled at 250 degrees C. This value is fairly large compared with those for poled silica and tellurite glasses reported thus far. We speculate that the large third-order nonlinear susceptibility of WO>(3)- TeO>(2) glasses gives rise to the large second-order nonlinearity by means of a X((2)) = 3X((3)) E(dc) process.     

Experimental study of the origin of the second-order nonlinearities induced in thermally poled fused silica

Second-harmonic generation (SHG) experiments at the surfaces and in the volumes of thermally poled commercial fused-silica samples have been performed. The experimental results show, for the first time to our knowledge and in agreement with our model, that second-order nonlinearity is induced on both cathodic and anodic interfaces. No contribution from the bulk of the sample could be detected. Moreover, our data also reveal that reorientable moieties are at the origin of the induced nonlinearity. The second-order susceptibility, evaluated by a surface SHG experiment, is chi((2))(333)~1 pm/V . The estimated susceptibility associated with the dc Kerr effect is negligible.     

Spatial versus temporal deterministic wave breakup of nonlinearly coupled light waves

We investigate experimentally the competition between spatial and temporal breakup due to modulational instability in chi((2)) nonlinear mixing. The modulation of the wave packets caused by the energy exchange between fundamental and second-harmonic components is found to be the prevailing trigger mechanism which, according to the relative weight of diffraction and dispersion, leads to the appearance of a multisoliton pattern in the low-dimensional spatial or temporal domain.