Fine structure of second-harmonic resonances in χ optical microresonators.

Owing to the discrete frequency spectrum of whispering gallery resonators (WGRs), the resonance and phase-matching conditions for the interacting waves in the case of second-harmonic generation (SHG) cannot generally be fulfilled simultaneously. To account for this, we develop a model describing SHG in WGRs with non-zero frequency detunings at both the pump and second-harmonic frequencies. Our model predicts strong distortions of the line shape of pump and second-harmonic resonances for similar linewidths at both frequencies; for much larger linewidths at the second-harmonic frequency, this behavior is absent.

Control of mode anticrossings in whispering gallery microresonators.

Optical microresonators attract strong interest because of exciting effects and applications ranging from sensing of single atoms and molecules to quantum and nonlinear optics. For all this, control and tuning of the discrete resonances are vital. In resonators made of anisotropic materials that are beneficial for nonlinear-optical applications, anticrossings of ordinarily (o) and extraordinarily (e) polarized modes occur regularly.

Strong lowering of the mirrorless optical oscillation threshold by angular mismatches for nonlocal photorefractive nonlinearity.

We show that the introduction of an angular mismatch for the pump waves results, in the case of nonlocal photorefractive nonlinearity, in a strong almost twofold decrease of the threshold value of the coupling strength for the mirrorless optical oscillation. This surprising feature will lead to a strong modification of the threshold and near-threshold behavior of a vast variety of optical oscillators based on the photorefractive phase conjugation and involving finite-size light beams.

Femtosecond holography in lithium niobate crystals.

Spatial gratings are recorded holographically by two femtosecond pump pulses at 388 nm in lithium niobate (LiNbO3) crystals and read out by a Bragg-matched, temporally delayed probe pulse at 776 nm. We claim, to our knowledge, the first holographic pump-probe experiments with subpicosecond temporal resolution for LiNbO3. An instantaneous grating that is due mostly to the Kerr effect as well as a long-lasting grating that results mainly from the absorption caused by photoexcited carriers was observed.