Compact terahertz spectrometer based on sequential modulation of disordered rough surfaces.

We present herein a compact terahertz (THz) spectrometer in which transmission intensity distribution associated with dispersive interference effects in disordered random surfaces are used for reconstructing the frequency contents of an incoming THz beam. The device sweeps the frequency-dependent parameter of a roughened transmission plate through lateral displacement or electro-optic modulation. 2D transmission intensities are sequentially captured by a single detector for a range of modulation depths. With a calibration data set as the reference, one can reconstruct the spectra of the probe THz beam by solving a system of simultaneous linear equations. A smoothing Tikhonov regularization approach has been implemented to improve the accuracy of the spectral reconstruction. The reported compact, broadband, high-resolution THz spectrometer is well suited for portable THz spectroscopy applications.

Nearly Diffraction-Free Nonlinear Imaging of Irregularly Distributed Ferroelectric Domains.

Second-harmonic generation is used experimentally for the nonlinear imaging of two-dimensional irregular domain structures. Analytical solutions and simulation results for the Fresnel distribution of domain walls are obtained. The results show that the domain wall plays an important role in the imaging process and the corresponding diffraction effect is greatly suppressed (we call it a nearly diffraction-free effect), thus providing a simple way to realize high-resolution imaging for ferroelectric domains.

Theoretical study on the Cerenkov-type second-harmonic generation in optical superlattices without paraxial approximation.

In this paper, the Cerenkov-type second-harmonic generation in bulk optical superlattices has been studied theoretically with the non-paraxial wave equations, where the paraxial approximation is avoided. The corresponding phase-matching condition is determined strictly by solving the non-paraxial wave equations under proper boundary conditions, and the result coincides well with the traditional Cerenkov phase-matching condition. In addition, a backward Cerenkov phase-matching condition is deduced from the wave equations as well, and the physical requirement of this condition is clarified.

2D wave-front shaping in optical superlattices using nonlinear volume holography.

Nonlinear volume holography is employed to realize arbitrary wave-front shaping during nonlinear processes with properly designed 2D optical superlattices. The concept of a nonlinear polarization wave in nonlinear volume holography is investigated. The holographic imaging of irregular patterns was performed using 2D LiTaO3 crystals with fundamental wave propagating along the spontaneous polarization direction, and the results agree well with the theoretical predictions. This Letter not only extends the application area of optical superlattices, but also offers an efficient method for wave-front shaping technology.

From Ewald sphere to Ewald shell in nonlinear optics.

Ewald sphere is a simple vector scheme to depict the X-ray Bragg diffraction in a crystal. A similar method, known as the nonlinear Ewald sphere, was employed to illustrate optical frequency conversion processes. We extend the nonlinear Ewald sphere to the Ewald shell construction. With the Ewald shell, a variety of quasi-phase-matching (QPM) effects, such as the collective envelope effect associated with multiple QPM resonances, the enhanced second- harmonic generation due to multiple reciprocal vectors etc., are suggested theoretically and verified experimentally. By rotating the nonlinear photonic crystal sample, the dynamic evolution of these QPM effects has also been observed, which agreed well with the Ewald shell model.

Rigorous intensity and phase-shift manipulation in optical frequency conversion.

A simple method is employed to investigate the nonlinear frequency conversion in optical superlattices (OSL) with pump depletion. Four rigorous phase-matching conditions for different purposes are obtained directly from the nonlinear coupled equations, and the resulting OSL domain structures are generally aperiodic rather than periodic. With this method, not only the intensity but also the phase-shift of the harmonic waves can be manipulated at will. The second-harmonic generation of Gaussian beam is further investigated. This work may provide a guidance for the practical applications of designing nonlinear optical devices with high conversion efficiency.

Nonlinear optical Fourier transform in an optical superlattice with "x+2" structure.

We proposed a simple method to realize optical Fourier transform during the nonlinear wave shaping processes. In this method, an integrated optical superlattice is designed to realize multiple optical functions, which plays important roles in both the nonlinear harmonic generation process and the optical Fourier Transform process. We demonstrated our method by the nonlinear generation of Airy beams as an example. It is a universal method for beam shaping and is of practical importance for designing compact nonlinear optical devices.

Nonlinear volume holography for wave-front engineering.

The concept of volume holography is applied to the design of an optical superlattice for the nonlinear harmonic generation. The generated harmonic wave can be considered as a holographic image caused by the incident fundamental wave. Compared with the conventional quasi-phase-matching method, this new method has significant advantages when applied to complicated nonlinear processes such as the nonlinear generation of special beams. As an example, we experimentally realized a second-harmonic Airy beam, and the results are found to agree well with numerical simulations.

Controllable polarization coupled dual-focused second-harmonic generations in a two-dimensional optical superlattice.

The nonlinear Huygens-Fresnel principle has been used to design multifunctional nonlinear optical devices. Focused second-harmonic generations have been observed with strong polarization sensitivity. Numerical simulations have been performed, and the results fit well with the experiments.

Theoretical analyses of multiple quasi-phase-matched third-harmonic generation for all configurations.

A general theory for multiple quasi-phase-matched third-harmonic generation is investigated systematically. We find that there are up to 24 configurations for third-harmonic generation by cascaded two-parametric processes. All these configurations can be divided into three categories based on the coupling types of the harmonic fields. Each category has a set of coupled wave equations that describe its characteristics. The analytical solutions reveal some features, such as the polarization tuning and quasi-phase-matched gap effect.

Numerical simulation of nonlinear field distributions in two-dimensional optical superlattices.

A finite difference method in real space is presented for calculating nonlinear optical processes in two-dimensional optical superlattices. The focused second-harmonic generation under the local quasi-phase-matched condition is calculated as an example. The field distribution of both the fundamental and the harmonic wave can be simulated well using this method, and the result agrees well with previous theoretical predictions and experimental studies. It is shown that this method is a simple and rapid technique to analysis nonlinear processes in optical superlattices.

Perfect quasi-phase matching for the third-harmonic generation using focused Gaussian beams.

We propose a method to realize perfect quasi-phase matching (QPM) for nonlinear optical interactions involving Gaussian beams. Using this method, both the wave-vector mismatching and the Gouy phase shift can be compensated. Numerical simulations for the third-harmonic generation show that conversion efficiency near to 100% can be realized even if the fundamental wave is tightly focused, which is difficult or even impossible with the conventional QPM method.

Wave-front engineering by Huygens-Fresnel principle for nonlinear optical interactions in domain engineered structures.

Wave-front engineering for nonlinear optical interactions was discussed. Using Huygens-Fresnel principle we developed a general theory and technique for domain engineering with conventional quasi-phase-matching (QPM) structures being the special cases. We put forward the concept of local QPM, which suggests that the QPM is fulfilled only locally not globally. Experiments agreed well with the theoretical prediction. The proposed scheme integrates three optical functions: generating, focusing, and beam splitting of second-harmonic wave, thus making the device more compact.