Nonlinear optics

branch of physics

change in refractive index of a material in response to an applied electric field

appearance or change of birefringence in an optical medium by an applied electric field

laser source emitting in equally spaced frequency lines

changes in optical properties from applied electric fields

nonlinear optical process

Electro–optics is a branch of electrical engineering, electronic engineering, materials science, and material physics involving components, electronic devices such as lasers, laser diodes, LEDs, waveguides, etc. which operate by the propagation and interaction of light with various tailored materials. It is closely related to photonics, the branch of optics that involves the application of the generation of photons. It is not only concerned with the "electro–optic effect", since it deals with the interaction between the electromagnetic (optical) and the electrical (electronic) states of materi

sub-branch of optical physics

multiphoton absorption

parametric oscillator that oscillates at optical frequencies

Acousto-optics is a branch of physics that studies the interactions between sound waves and light waves, especially the diffraction of laser light by ultrasound (or sound in general) through an ultrasonic grating.

laser pulse with duration a picosecond (10−12 s) or less

nonlinear optics intermodulation phenomenon whereby interactions between two or three wavelengths produce two or one new wavelengths

nonlinear optical process

laser science process

any form of optical data storage allowing three-dimensional recording or display

nonlinear optical effect of light-matter interaction, in which an ultrashort pulse of light traveling in a medium will induce a varying refractive index of the medium due to the optical Kerr effect

propagation of an optical pulse at a very low group velocity

nonlinear optical effect

thumb|Figure 1. A typical supercontinuum spectrum. The blue line shows the spectrum of the pump source launched into a photonic crystal fiber while the red line shows the resulting supercontinuum spectrum generated after propagating through the fiber. thumb|Image of a typical supercontinuum. This supercontinuum was generated by focusing 800 nm, sub-100 fs pulses into a yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) crystal, generating ultra broadband light that spans both the visible and NIR. In optics, a supercontinuum is formed when a collection of nonlinear processes act together upon a pump beam in order

electronic sensors that convert light into electrical signals

The hyperpolarizability, a nonlinear-optical property of a molecule, is the second order electric susceptibility per unit volume. The hyperpolarizability can be calculated using quantum chemical calculations developed in several software packages. See nonlinear optics.

any optical field that does not change during propagation because of a delicate balance between nonlinear and linear effects in the medium

thumb|250px|Light passing through a gradient-index optics|gradient-index lens is focused as in a convex lens. In self-focusing, the refractive index gradient is induced by the light itself. Self-focusing is a non-linear optical process induced by the change in refractive index of materials exposed to intense electromagnetic radiation. A medium whose refractive index increases with the electric field intensity acts as a focusing lens for an electromagnetic wave characterized by an initial transverse intensity gradient, as in a laser beam. The peak intensity of the self-focused region keeps incr

American physicist (1941-2011)

method for measuring ultra-fast laser pulses

Type of device

type of laser light source that emits light of variable wavelengths

device that can quickly change the phase of an optical beam according to an applied voltage

the study and application of photonic systems which use silicon as an optical medium

nonlinear optical effect where one wavelength of light can affect the phase of another wavelength of light through the optical Kerr effect.

nonlinear optical effect

sensor implementation technique