Femtosecond optical Kerr studies on the origin of the nonlinear responses in simple liquids

Abstract

The time-resolved optical Kerr responses of several simple molecular liquids are probed with 65-fs laser pulses. Four dynamically distinct responses associated with the nonlinear susceptibility are observed in every liquid that possesses a permanent anisotropic polarizability. A simple model that specifically includes inertial effects provides an excellent description of the entire temporal profile of the Kerr signal of each liquid investigated. The role of coherent-coupling effects in the interpretation of optical Kerr data is outlined both experimentally and theoretically.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>