Description:
This course is designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students having some previous exposure to the field of optics, and wishing to become knowledgeable in the basic principles that govern the light-matter interaction effects collectively known as nonlinear optics.
After this course you should be able to understand and analyze the nonlinear optical effects that laser beams induce in transparent materials and that are of the second order and of the third order in the optical electric field. You will also be able to read and understand the litearture about nonlinear optics and extend your knowledge in the field, starting from teh basic building blocks that you learned. If faced with a new phenomenon or effect, you will be able to analyze it with the tools presented in this course and understand its origins and implications.
Topics:
There will be a short introduction about lasers, mainly limited to a review of Gaussian beams.
The basic treatment of nonlinear optics that we will follow will include the origin, symmetry, and definitions of the nonlinear optical susceptibilities, and the methods used to analyze nonlinear optical interactions in general. Experiments and applications will be selected from among the following topics: Measurement of nonlinear optical properties and the pitfalls of inconsistent definitions found in the literature; Molecular hyperpolarizabilities and macroscopic nonlinearities; Second and third order effects; Wave interaction in anisotropic crystals; Frequency conversion; Optical Kerr effect; Optical switching; Four-wave mixing.
Several current topics of interest related to the material in the course will be discussed and presented. In fundamental research, lasers and nonlinear optical techniques can deliver information on the symmetry of materials and interfaces, on the excited states of matter, and on the dynamics of a multitude of material excitations. In technology, nonlinear optical effects are used to change the color of laser beams, to create short laser pulses, and are critical for the understanding and optimization of information-transmission in optical fibers and elsewhere.
