Nonlinear three-wave interaction in photonic crystals

We present a multi-scale analysis of nonlinear three-wave-interaction processes in photonic crystals. Based on photonic Bloch functions as carrier waves, we derive the effective nonlinear coupled wave equations that govern pulse propagation in these systems and obtain the corresponding effective photonic crystal parameters directly from photonic band-structure computations. As an illustration, we show how hitherto inaccessible radiation-conversion processes such as wave-front reversal of optical pulses can be realized. Furthermore, we describe a novel regime of nonlinear three-wave interaction in photonic crystals associated with the nearly degenerate case and show how these results may be utilized to study experimentally certain problems from plasma physics and hydrodynamics in the context of nonlinear photonic crystals.