Nonlinear optical materials: Investigations and applications using laser interferometric technique.

摘要

The culmination of a comprehensive experimental study of a number of nonlinear optical materials and their device applications. The optical phenomenology surrounding the interaction of laser radiation with these materials is emphasized. In addition to using interferometric techniques for their investigation and application, the overall theme of the research is the incorporation of interferometric descriptions of these interactions. Interference is commonly regarded to be the domain of linear optics; this work invalidates that notion. Nonlinear optics (NLO) is presented as simply a natural extension of linear optics. After a complete introduction to the general theory and relevant concepts required in the field of NLO, the first half of this manuscript presents a number of studies concerned with second-order nonlinear crystals for laser frequency conversion. The second half of this dissertation presents research on the nonlinear optical properties of semiconductors and semiconductor microstructures for optical-bistability-related applications. Optical bistability and related phenomena made possible using these materials in a nonlinear Fabry-Perot interferometer are stressed.