Nonlinear Optics

Abstract

Recent advances in the field of nonlinear optical phenomena are reviewed with particular emphasis placed on such topics as parametric oscillation, self-focusing and trapping of laser beams, and stimulated Raman, Rayleigh, and Brillouin scattering. The optical frequency radiation is treated classically in terms of the amplitudes and phases of the electromagnetic fields. The interactions of light waves in a material are then formulated in terms of Maxwell's equations and the electric dipole approximation. In this method, non-linear susceptibility tensors are introduced which relate the induced dipole moment to a power series expansion in field strengths. The tensor nature and the frequency dependence of the nonlinearity coefficients are considered. The various experimental observations are described and interpreted in terms of this formalism.