Optically induced refractive index change

In the degenerate four wave mixing (DFWM) experiment the third-order susceptibility 3)(-tt>,tt>,-CL>,CL>) with degenerate frequencies can be determined [22]. This nonlinear susceptibility is directly proportional to the nonlinear refractive index n2, which is used to describe optically induced refractive index changes. An advantage of this technique is the possibility to record the temporal shape of the third-order nonlinear optical signal. 

Ferroelectric lithium niobate (LiNbOs) has been of considerable interest because of its nonlinear optical properties. Conversion of infrared into visible radiation in LiNb03 crystals has been observed (Midwinter and Warner, 1967 Arutyunyan and Mkrtchyan, 1975). Electro-optic coefficients of LiNbOs have been determined for a wide range of frequencies ranging from the visible (Smakula and Claspy, 1967) to the millimeter-wave portion of the spectrum (Vinogradov et al., 1970). Other nonlinear optical properties such as photovoltaic effects (Kratzig and Kurz, 1977) and optically induced refractive index changes (Ashkin et al., 1966 Chen, 1969) have also been observed. 

Figure 1. shows the measured phase differenee derived using equation (6). A close match between the three sets of data points can be seen. Small jumps in the phase delay at 5tt, 3tt and most noticeably at tt are the result of the mathematical analysis used. As the cell is rotated such that tlie optical axis of the crystal structure runs parallel to the angle of polarisation, the cell acts as a phase-only modulator, and the voltage induced refractive index change no longer provides rotation of polarisation. This is desirable as ultimately the device is to be introduced to an interferometer, and any differing polarisations induced in the beams of such a device results in lower intensity modulation. 

UV light induced refractive index change has been observed in organic polysilane (PS)-silica and PS-titania hybrid thin films prepared by the sol-gel method.135 The magnitude of the refractive index change was found to be 0.16 for 50 wt % PS-silica and 0.18 for 50 wt % PS-titania hybrid thin films. It was demonstrated that the refractive index change of the hybrid thin films is due to the photodecomposition of PS. These findings indicate potential usefulness of the hybrid thin films as optical devices with refractive index modulated structures. 

Nonlinear Optical Properties. For many optical signal processing applications, it is desirable for materials to have large optical nonlinearities and fast response times. For example, third-order nonlinear optical properties (qv) result in laser-pulse-induced refractive index changes that occur on the femtosecond... 

For all-optical signal processing (based on pure y nonlinearities) the important quantity is the nonlinear refractive index n2. The resulting refractive index change can be induced either by the beam at the frequency co1 itself (self-phase modulation) or by a beam at another frequency to2 (cross-phase modulation). 

Electro-optic effects refer to the changes in the refractive index of a material induced by the application of an external electric field, which modulates their optical properties [61, 62], Application of an applied external field induces in an optically isotropic material, like liquids, isotropic thin films, an optical birefringence. The size of this effect is represented by a coefficient B, called Kerr constant. The electric field induced refractive index difference is given by... 

For a polyanUine film, the light absorption measurements were conducted after the film was exposed to HCl and NH3 vapors, respectively, as shown in Fig. 14 [19]. The difference in the spectra indicated that HCl and NH3 vapors induced a different band structure and conformation of the polymer. Therefore, the optical property of the film changed when the film switched from one state (doped by HCl) to another (dedoped by NH3). The refractive index measurement by ellipsometry showed that the refractive index changed from 2.43 (doped by HCl) to 1.95 (dedoped by NH3). 

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