Introduction To Nonlinear Optics

This page intentionally left blank Introduction to Nonlinear Optics Since the early days of nonlinear optics in the 1960s, the field has expanded dramatically, and is now a vast and vibrant field with countless technological applications. Providing a gentle introduction to the principles of the subject, this textbook is ideal for graduate students starting their research in this burgeoning area. After basic ideas have been outlined, the book offers a thorough analysis of second harmonic generation and related second-order processes, before moving on to thirdorder effects, the nonlinear optics of short optical pulses, and coherent effects such as electromagnetically-induced transparency. A simplified treatment of high harmonic generation is presented at the end. More advanced topics, such as the linear and nonlinear optics of crystals, the tensor nature of the nonlinear coefficients, and their quantum mechanical representation, are confined to specialist chapters so that readers can focus on basic principles before tackling these more difficult aspects of the subject. Geoffrey New is Professor of Nonlinear Optics with the Quantum Optics and Laser Science Group in the Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London. A highly regarded laser physicist and a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, he has spent nearly half a century researching nonlinear optics and laser physics. Introduction to Nonlinear Optics GEOFFREY NEW Quantum Optics & Laser Science Group Blackett Laboratory Imperial College London cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521877015 © G. New 2011 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2011 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data New, Geoffrey (Geoffrey H. C.) Introduction to Nonlinear Optics / Geoffrey New. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-521-87701-5 (Hardback) 1. Nonlinear optics. I. Title. QC446.2.N475 2011 535 .2–dc22 2010051428 ISBN 978-0-521-87701-5 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such w