Transverse modulational instability of counterpropagating light waves

Journal Article · Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992 · Journal of the Optical Society of America, Part B: Optical Physics; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAB.9.001047· OSTI ID:7161961

Luther, G G; McKinstrie, C J ^[1]

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1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627 (United States) Laboratory for Laser Energetics, 250 East River Road, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States)

The interaction of two intense counterpropagating light waves in a finite, cubically nonlinear medium leads to a transverse modulational instability that results from the interaction of four electromagnetic sidebands. The convective gain spectrum and the absolute instability threshold of this instability are calculated analytically for two tractable limits and numerically for other cases. It is shown that phase conjugation, forward four-wave mixing, and Bragg reflection by four-wave mixing are three two-sideband limits of the four-sideband interaction. The four-sideband transverse modulational instability occurs in the spectral overlap region of these two-sideband limits and dominates the interaction of the two counterpropagating light waves over a significant range of the ratio of backward-to-forward pump intensities in both self-focusing and self-defocusing media. The absolute phase conjugation instability dominates only over a limited range of pump-intensity ratios in self-defocusing media.

• DOE Contract Number: FC03-85DP40200
• OSTI ID: 7161961
• Journal Information: Journal of the Optical Society of America, Part B: Optical Physics; (United States), Vol. 9:7; ISSN 0740-3224
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
LASER RADIATION
INTERFERENCE
BEAM DYNAMICS
DISPERSION RELATIONS
GAIN
INSTABILITY
KERR EFFECT
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NONLINEAR OPTICS
POLARIZATION
SCHROEDINGER EQUATION
WAVE PROPAGATION
AMPLIFICATION
DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EQUATIONS
OPTICS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATIONS
WAVE EQUATIONS
426002* - Engineering- Lasers & Masers- (1990-)