ABSTRACT
We report on enormous light-induced reversible strain effects in CdZnTe:V crystals, which lead to a remarkable enhancement of their nonlinear properties, such as electrostriction and electro-optic effects. Using both high resolution x-ray diffraction and optical interferometry we measure light-induced relative deformation of the initial crystalline lattice (changes in d-spacings) up to 0.15%. The experimental findings are attributed to light-induced breaking of the initial cubic crystalline symmetry. Our results point to a family of inorganic materials whose nonlinear properties can be remarkably enhanced by light, offering new possibilities for nonlinear frequency conversion, generation of Terahertz radiation, electro-optic modulation, and self-deflection of optical beams.
ABSTRACT
We report on the experimental observation of very large self-deflection of optical beams, along with all-optical steering, and electro-optic beam deflection. We observe as many as 27 resolvable spots of deflection at 1-W/cm2 intensity. These deflections arise from enhanced photorefractive effects in CdZnTe:V, giving rise to optically induced index changes in excess of 0.08, which is to our knowledge the strongest nonlinearity ever reported for any bulk semiconductor.
ABSTRACT
We demonstrate the formation of (1+1) - and (2+1) -dimensional solitons in photorefractive CdZnTe:V, exploiting the intensity-resonant behavior of the space-charge field. We control the resonance optically, facilitating a 10-mus soliton formation times with very low optical power.
