Nonlinear birefringence due to non-resonant, higher-order Kerr effect in isotropic media. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • The recent interpretation of experiments on the nonlinear non-resonant birefringence induced in a weak probe beam by a high intensity pump beam in air and its constituents has stimulated interest in the non-resonant birefringence due to higher-order Kerr nonlinearities. Here a simple formalism is invoked to determine the non-resonant birefringence for higher-order Kerr coefficients. Some general relations between nonlinear coefficients with arbitrary frequency inputs are also derived for isotropic media. It is shown that the previous linear extrapolations for higher-order birefringence (based on literature values of n2 and n4) are not strictly valid, although the errors introduced in the values of the reported higher- order Kerr coefficients are a few percent.

published proceedings

  • Opt Express

author list (cited authors)

  • Stegeman, G., Papazoglou, D. G., Boyd, R., & Tzortzakis, S.

citation count

  • 11

complete list of authors

  • Stegeman, George||Papazoglou, Dimitris G||Boyd, Robert||Tzortzakis, Stelios

publication date

  • March 2011