Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Frequency mixing
- 3 Crystal optics
- 4 Nonlinear optics in crystals
- 5 Third-order nonlinear processes
- 6 Dispersion and optical pulses
- 7 Nonlinear optics with pulses
- 8 Some quantum mechanics
- 9 Resonant effects
- 10 High harmonic generation
- Appendix A Conventions and units
- Appendix B Linear and nonlinear susceptibilities in the time and frequency domains
- Appendix C Definition of the nonlinear coefficients
- Appendix D Non-zero d elements in non-centrosymmetric crystals
- Appendix E Real fields, complex fields, and the analytic signal
- Appendix F Geometry of the grating pair
- Appendix G The paraxial wave equation
- Appendix H Useful formulae for numerical simulations
- Appendix I Useful constants
- Answers to problems
- Further Reading
- References
- Index
3 - Crystal optics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Frequency mixing
- 3 Crystal optics
- 4 Nonlinear optics in crystals
- 5 Third-order nonlinear processes
- 6 Dispersion and optical pulses
- 7 Nonlinear optics with pulses
- 8 Some quantum mechanics
- 9 Resonant effects
- 10 High harmonic generation
- Appendix A Conventions and units
- Appendix B Linear and nonlinear susceptibilities in the time and frequency domains
- Appendix C Definition of the nonlinear coefficients
- Appendix D Non-zero d elements in non-centrosymmetric crystals
- Appendix E Real fields, complex fields, and the analytic signal
- Appendix F Geometry of the grating pair
- Appendix G The paraxial wave equation
- Appendix H Useful formulae for numerical simulations
- Appendix I Useful constants
- Answers to problems
- Further Reading
- References
- Index
Summary
Preview
The central feature of this chapter is the phenomenon of birefringence, also known as double refraction, which occurs in crystals that are optically anisotropic. Given that birefringence is a linear optical effect, why is the whole of Chapter 3 being devoted to it? Firstly, most nonlinear crystals are birefringent, and so one naturally needs to know how light propagates in these media. Secondly, several important nonlinear optical techniques (the most obvious being phase matching) exploit birefringence to achieve their goal. Lastly, the material in this chapter provides essential background for the following chapter on the nonlinear optics of crystals.
Section 3.2 is a brief tutorial on crystal symmetry. Crystallography is something of a world on it own, and many people find it a complete mystery. Although the summary offered here is very basic, it should provide everything needed for what comes later.
Section 3.3 discusses the propagation of EM waves in optically anisotropic media, and contains a fairly detailed analysis of birefringence (double refraction), ordinary and extraordinary waves, and associated topics. The treatment is mainly centred on uniaxial media because of their relative simplicity and the fact that most nonlinear crystals are of this type.
Section 3.4 describes how birefringence can be exploited in the construction of wave plates, while Section 3.5 is reserved for a brief mention of biaxial media in which the propagation characteristics are considerably more complicated.
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- Information
- Introduction to Nonlinear Optics , pp. 45 - 61Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011