Nonreciprocal scattering by stacked nonlinear magneto-active semiconductor layers

The combinatorial frequency generation by the periodic stacks of magnetically biased semiconductor layers has been modelled in a self-consistent problem formulation, taking into account the nonlinear dynamics of carriers. It is shown that magnetic bias not only renders nonreciprocity of the three-wave mixing process but also significantly enhances the nonlinear interactions in the stacks, especially at the frequencies close to the intrinsic magneto-plasma resonances of the constituent layers. The main mechanisms and properties of the combinatorial frequency generation and emission from the stacks are illustrated by the simulation results, and the effects of the individual layer parameters and the structure arrangement on the stack nonlinear and nonreciprocal response are discussed.     

利用各向同性半导体晶体差频产生可调谐THz辐射的理论研究

理论研究了利用剩余射线带色散补偿相位匹配原理，在Ⅲ-Ⅴ族和Ⅱ-Ⅳ族光学各向同性的半导体非线性晶体中差频产生可调谐THz波的可行性问题.根据这些半导体材料的色散特性，并以近简并点双共振KTP-OPO的可调谐相干双波长输出作为差频抽运源，对它们的相位匹配能力、差频增益特性、品质因数以及差频过程中的相干长度进行了理论分析和计算，确定了ZnTe晶体是在共线相位匹配情况下较为理想的THz波差频晶体，而InP晶体则更适合用于非共线相位匹配情况. 关键词： 非线性光学 THz辐射 差频 各向同性半导体晶体     

Light Wave Interactions in Active Nonlinear Crystals with Quadratic Nonlinearity

Recent results in the field of three-frequency wave interaction in homogeneous and inhomogeneous (periodically poled) active nonlinear crystals with quadratic nonlinearity are reviewed. The quasi-phase-matched processes of self-frequency doubling, self-frequency halving, and frequency mixing of the pump and laser radiations are studied. The consecutive quasi-phase-matched processes of the third-harmonic generation and parametric amplification with low-frequency pumping in periodically poled active nonlinear crystals are also investigated. The analysis is carried out for the case of a periodically poled Nd:Mg:LiNbO₃ crystal. Perspectives of using periodically poled active nonlinear crystals in laser devices with self-frequency conversion are discussed.     

Coherent bisection of 141 THz using sum frequency generation of 1064 and 709 nm radiation

The frequency interval (141 THz) that exists between 1064 nm radiation and the unusual semiconductor wavelength of 709 nm has been coherently divided by using an optical phase-locked loop to control a slave laser lying at the mean frequency of these two wavelengths. The 709 nm radiation has been generated by a combination of wavelength tuning in an extended cavity and temperature tuning of a ridge-waveguide semiconductor laser with a nominal wavelength of 728 nm. Two nonlinear processes have been used to produce the coherent division: the sum frequency mixing of 1064 and 709 nm radiation to produce 425 nm radiation and the second harmonic generation of 851 nm light to produce the same wavelength radiation.     

Intra-cavity second-harmonic and sum-frequency generation in a diode-pumped broadband Yb-doped fibre laser

Intra-cavity nonlinear frequency mixing in a diode-pumped, broadband Yb-doped fibre laser has been investigated. Second-harmonic generation of the fibre output, second-harmonic generation of the residual pump beam and sum frequency mixing between the two was achieved simultaneously, resulting in three colour operation in the blue-green region. Including the nonlinear crystal inside the cavity is also shown to be effective in reducing fluctuations in the output power.     

Improving the resolution in quantum and classical temporal imaging

The point-spread function of an optical system determines its optical resolution for both spatial and temporal imaging. For spatial imaging, it is given by a Fourier transform of the pupil function of the system. For temporal imaging based on nonlinear optical processes, such as sum-frequency generation or four-wave mixing, the pointspread function is related to the waveform of the pump wave by a nonlinear transformation. We compare the point-spread functions of three temporal imaging schemes: sum-frequency generation, co-propagating four-wave mixing, and counter-propagating four-wave mixing, and demonstrate that the last scheme provides the best temporal resolution. Our results are valid for both quantum and classical temporal imaging.     

The effect of the nonparabolicity of the free carriers dispersion law on the propagation of surface polaritons in a semiconductor-metal structure

The results of a study on the influence of the nonparabolicity of the free carriers dispersion law on the propagation of surface polaritons (SPs) located near the interface between an n-type semiconductor and a metal arc reported. The semiconductor plasma is assumed to be warm and nonisothermal. The nonparabolicity of the electron dispersion law has two effects. The first one is associated with nonlinear self-interaction of the SPs. The nonlinear dispersion equation and the nonlinear Schrodinger equation for the amplitude of the SP envelope are obtained. The nonlinear evolution of the SP is studied on the base of the above mentioned equations. The second effect results in third harmonics generation. Analysis shows that these third harmonics may appear as a pure surface polariton, a pseudosurface polariton, or a superposition of a volume wave and a SP depending on the wave frequency, electron density and lattice dielectric constant.     

Self-pulsing instabilities in the generation of higher harmonics

We consider nonlinear optical processes in a cavity. The processes are driven by an external coherent pump. We predict self-pulsing instabilities in the generation of higher harmonics. We also derive formulas for the threshold pump strength and critical selfpulsing frequency.     

Evolution of first-order sidebands from multiple FWM processes in HiBi optical fibers

The generation of two idler waves inside a high birefringent (HiBi) optical fiber through three four-wave mixing (FWM) processes is studied theoretically. The coupled-equations for the field amplitudes are derived and analytically solved, in the co-polarized and orthogonal polarization schemes. The obtained solutions take into account the delayed Raman response of the medium. The polarization sensitivity of the generation of the idler waves is analyzed. Results show that the stimulated Raman scattering does not change the efficiency of the idler wave generation in the co-polarized scheme, whereas in the orthogonal polarization scheme that nonlinear process decreases the efficiency of the four-wave mixing processes. Results also show that this set of multiple four-wave mixing processes is physically quite different from the typical single or dual pump four-wave mixing configurations. Findings show that the power transfer from the pumps to the idler fields can lead to a monotonous growth, or a periodic evolution of the sidebands along the fiber. Results show that the process efficiency varies greatly with the angle between the two pump polarizations.     

Generation of a wide discrete visible spectrum in a frequency-doubling optical fiber

We describe some special features of frequency doubling in a Ge-doped SiO₂ optical fiber. The generation of a multi-frequency visible spectrum in a single short fiber pumped with 1.06 µm radiation is demonstrated. This effect is the result of an interplay between the processes of frequency doubling and third-order nonlinear frequency mixing. Most of the new components coincide with the characteristic stimulated four-wave-mixing spectrum of the fiber, although the power of the internally generated 0.532 µm pump was more than an order of magnitude below the respective thresholds.     

Backward second-harmonic and third-harmonic generation in a periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate waveguide

We observed backward second-harmonic and backward third-harmonic generation in a periodically poled KTiOPO(4) waveguide using nanosecond laser pulses. The highest conversion efficiency achieved for the backward second-harmonic generation, occurring at the 25th-order grating, was ~0.6% . The backward third-harmonic generation was the result of mixing the pump beam with the forward or the backward second-harmonic beam. Conversion efficiency of ~0.4% was achieved at a pump wavelength of 1233.7 nm, where the two constituent nonlinear processes are both quasi-phase matched.     

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 interference between two sets of frequency conversion processes with widely spaced pump wavelengths in an optical fiber

The processes of nonlinear interaction of two high-power pump waves with widely spaced frequencies are studied in an optical fiber. Substantially increased output power of the Stokes components, generated via stimulated Raman scattering or stimulated four-wave mixing by one of the pump waves have been obtained in the field of the other pump wave and its Stokes components. For the first time the possibility to excited new spectral lines in the spectrum of one of the pump waves with frequency shifts characteristic for the other one, is experimentally demonstrated.     

The diffraction phenomenon in consecutive parametric processes

The manifestation of diffraction effects in two coupled three-frequency collinear processes in the presence of a single intense pump wave in a nonlinear optical crystal with a regular domain structure is considered. A set of three coupled parabolic equations is solved by the Fourier transform method. Attention is focused on the analysis of the functions of image conversion from a signal frequency to a new frequency and to the image gain. It was established that the influence of the subsequent process of image conversion by means of frequency mixing weakly affects the initial process of nondegenerate parametric interaction.     

Analysis of difference frequency generation and cascaded second-harmonic generation and difference frequency generation in lossy quasi-phase-matched semiconductor waveguides

The analytical expressions of converted wave power for difference frequency generation (DFG), cascaded second-harmonic generation and difference frequency generation (cSHG/DFG) processes have been obtained under the non-depletion approximation in lossy waveguides. It is shown that the analytical results and the numerical simulation with depletion agree very well for lossy waveguides. Employing the analytical solutions, the formulas of optimized waveguide lengths in lossy waveguides are obtained for DFG and cSHG/DFG processes. After designing an AlGaAs quasi-phase-matched ridge waveguide, we investigate and compare the characteristics of the second-order nonlinear effects with and without waveguide loss, such as conversion efficiency, conversion bandwidth, pump wavelength tolerance and temperature stability in detail.     

Nonlinear properties of quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers at 1.3 μm Invited Paper

The dynamics of nonlinear processes in quantum dot (QD) semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) are investigated. Using small-signal measurements, the suitabilities of cross-gain and cross-phase modulation as well as four wave mixing (FWM) for wavelength conversion are examined. The cross-gain modulation is found to be suitable for wavelength conversion up to a frequency of 40 GHz.     

在单零色散微结构光纤中一次抽运同时发生两组四波混频的实验观察

采用可以减小纤芯面积的小气孔设计方案巧妙设计并成功拉制了一根高非线性的单零色散微结构光纤.利用有限元法模拟并计算得到了该光纤的基模有效折射率、色散系数和非线性系数等基本属性随波长的变化关系,然后利用四波混频的有效相位失配方程模拟了其相位失配曲线.模拟表明,在该光纤中可以同时发生两组四波混频.在位于微结构光纤的正常色散区的0.800,0.810和0.820μm三个波长处,分别采用不同的功率抽运,在实验上都非常明显地观察到了分列于抽运波长两侧的四个增益波带的产生.经与相位失配曲线比较,发现它们满足相位匹配条件,从而证明了两组四波混频过程的同时发生.实验结果与理论预言符合得很好.发生在正常色散区的四波混频效应的产生可归结于负的四阶色散对相位匹配过程的贡献.本文研究可对微结构光纤的结构设计和基于四波混频的多波长转移技术的发展提供经验与借鉴,同时也对非常见波段激光器和宽带光源的开发具有参考意义.     

Four-wave mixing and biphoton generation in a two-level system

We find that in a two-level system there are two kinds of four-wave mixing processes which destructively contribute to the third-order nonlinear susceptibility. In a paired-photon generation scheme by using a single retroreflected pump beam, these two processes occur with definite time orders. The biphoton temporal correlation, which is measured with a back-to-back geometry in a laser-cooled two-level atomic ensemble, shows a damped Rabi oscillation and photon antibunching. Without suppressing the background of Rayleigh scattering, the upper limit of Cauchy criteria is estimated.