Lecture 6

Nonlinearities

By
Halim
 Light – Matter Interaction
Normally, Induced Dipole Reradiation
(electronic response)

,k,E ´,k´,E´

1. Optical interactions depend on the

Electric field in the light wave.
2. Valence/outer `bound’ electrons that respond to this field.
But,
3. Does this idea work when you go to high light Intensities?

NO!
 Start of Nonlinear Optics
Nonlinear optics started
by the discovery of
Second Harmonic
generation shortly
after demonstration
of the first laser in
1960 by Ali Javan.
(Peter Franken et al
1961)
2. The Essence of Nonlinear Optics

When the intensity of

the incident light to

Output
a material system
increases the
response of
medium is no
longer linear
Input intensity
Response of an optical Medium

The response of an
optical medium to h 
the incident
h
electro magnetic h 
field is the  

induced dipole h

moments inside
the medium
 Nonlinear Susceptibility
Dipole moment per unit volume or polarization

i PP0i   ij E j
0
PiP i   ij E j

The general form of polarization

Pi  P
0i  χ
0
E  χ E E  χ E E E 
(1) (2) (3)
Pi  Pi  χ E  χ E E  χ E E E  
( 1 ij)
ij j
j ( 2ijk
ijk
) j k
j k
( 3ijkl
ijkl
) j k l
j k l
 Nonlinear Polarization
 Permanent
Polarization
 First order
polarization: PP1

i EE
1
(1)
(1)
ij j
i ij j
 Second order
2  E E
2 ( 2)
Polarization P
Pi i   E E
( 2)
ijk j k
ijk j k
 Third Order
Polarization P3i  
3
E E E( 3)
Pi   E E E
( 3ijkl
)
ijkl j k
j k
l
l
 How does optical nonlinearity
appear
The strength of the
electric field of the light
e
wave should be in the
range of atomic fields h a0

N
E at  e / a 2
0

a0   / me
2 2

7
E at  2  10 esu
 Nonlinear Optical Interactions
 The E-field of a laser beam
~
E (t )  Ee  it  C.C.
 2nd order nonlinear polarization
~ ( 2)
P (t )  2  ( 2 ) EE *  (  ( 2 ) E 2 e 2 it  C.C.)

2
  ( 2)


 Sum Frequency Generation
2 2
 ( 2)  3  1   2
1 1

Application: 2
Application:
Tunable radiation in the 3
Tunable radiation in the 1
UV Spectral region.
UV Spectral region.
 Difference Frequency
Generation
2 2
 ( 2)  3  1   2
1 1
Application:
Application:
The low frequency
The low frequency 2
photon, 2 amplifies in
photon, amplifies in
the presence of high
1
the presence of high
frequency beam  . This
3
frequency beam .1 This
is known as parametric
is known as parametric
amplification.
 Phase Matching


 ( 2)

2
•Since the optical (NLO) media are dispersive,
•Since the optical (NLO) media are dispersive,
The fundamental and the harmonic signals have
The fundamental and the harmonic signals have
different propagation speeds inside the media.
different propagation speeds inside the media.
•The harmonic signals generated at different points
•The harmonic signals generated at different points
interfere destructively with each other.
interfere destructively with each other.
 Third Order Nonlinearities
 When the general form of the incident electric field is in
the following form,
~
~E (t )  E1eii1t 1t  E2 eii2t 2t  E3eii3t 3t
E (t )  E1e  E2 e  E3 e
The third order polarization will have 22 components
which their frequency dependent are

i ,i3,3i ,i (,

( i j k),),(
i j k
( i j k) )
i j k

( 2(2 i ),j ),(2(2 i ),j ),i,i,j ,jk, k11,2,2,3,3

i j i j
 The Intensity Dependent
Refractive Index
 The incident optical field

~E~ (t )  E ( )e iitt  C.C.

E (t )  E ( )e  C.C.

 Third order nonlinear polarization

PP (())33 ((   ))||EE(())|| EE(())

( 3) ( 3) 2
( 3) ( 3) 2
 The total polarization can be written as

()) EE(
TOT
PP (
TOT ())33 (
(1)
(1) ())| |EE(
( 3)
( 3) ())| | EE(
2
2
())

One can define an effective susceptibility

  (1)  4 | E ( ) 2| ( 3 )
(1)
 effeff    4 | E ( ) | 
2 ( 3)

The refractive index can be defined as usual

2
2
eff
nn 1144 eff
By definition

n  n  n
n  n0  n 2 I
0 2 I
where
nnc0 c
I I 02| E| E(() )| |
2
2

2

122 2 ( 3)
n2 122 ( 3)
n2  n2 0 c 
n0 c
Third order nonlinear susceptibility of some material

Response
Material  1111
time

Air 1.2×10-17

CO2 1.9×10-12 2 Ps

GaAs (bulk room

6.5×10-4 20 ns
temperature)

CdSxSe1-x doped glass 10-8 30 ps

GaAs/GaAlAs (MQW) 0.04 20 ns

Optical glass (1-100)×10-14 Very fast

 Processes due to intensity
dependent refractive index
1. Self focusing and self defocusing
2. Wave mixing
3. Degenerate four wave mixing
and optical phase conjugation
 Self focusing and self defocusing
 The laser beam has Gaussian intensity
profile. It can induce a Gaussian refractive
index profile inside the NLO sample.

 ( 3)
Wave mixing



22n0nSin(  /2)
Sin( /2)
0
 Optical Phase Conjugation
 Phase conjugation mirror

PCM
M

s
PCM

M
What is the phase conjugation
The signal wave

~E~ (r , t )  E e iit t  C.C. EEs sε̂ε̂s A

s Aese
ik . r
ik s .sr
E s s(r , t )  E s es  C.C. s

The phase conjugated wave

~E~ ( r , t )  rE**eiit t  C.C.

Ecc( r , t )  rE sse  C.C.
Degenerate Four Wave Mixing

A1 A2

 ( 3)

A3

A4
•All of the three incoming beams A1, A2 and A3 should be originated
•All of the three incoming beams A1, A2 and A3 should be originated
from a coherent source.
from
•Theafourth
coherent
beam source.
A4, will have the same Phase, Polarization, and
•The fourth beam A4, will have the same Phase, Polarization, and
Path as A3.
Path as A3.
•It is possible that the intensity of A4 be more than that of A3
 General Overview of Nonlinearities- 2 categories
• Nonlinear inelastic scattering processes include
– Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS)
– Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS)
• Nonlinear effects from intensity-dependent variations in the
refractive index include
– Self-phase modulation (SPM)
– Cross-phase modulation (XPM)
– Four-wave mixing (FWM)

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 Basic Effects of Nonlinearities
• SBS, SRS, and FWM result in gains or losses in a channel.
– The power variations depend on the optical signal intensity.
– These processes provide gains to some channels while depleting
power from others
– These effects produce crosstalk between the wavelength channels.
• FWM can be suppressed through special arrangements of fibers having
different dispersion characteristics.
• SPM and XPM affect only the phase of signals, which causes chirping in
digital pulses. This can worsen pulse broadening due to dispersion,
particularly in very high-rate systems, such as 40 Gb/s.
• When any of these nonlinear effects contribute to signal
impairment, an additional amount of power will be needed
at the receiver to maintain the same BER as in their absence.
This additional power is the power penalty for that effect.

28
 Power Penalty for Nonlinear Effects
• When any nonlinear effect contributes to signal strength
reduction, the amount of optical power reduction (in
decibels) is the power penalty for that effect

29
 Effective Length and Area
• Nonlinear effects increase with distance, but
are offset by the continuous decrease in signal
power along the fiber due to attenuation
• A simple model assumes the power is constant
over an effective length Leff given by

• Nonlinear effects increase with the light

intensity. For a given optical power, this
intensity is inversely proportional to the area of
the fiber core.
• In practice one can use an effective cross-
sectional area Aeff, which assumes a uniform
intensity distribution across most of the core.

30
 Stimulated Raman Scattering
• In stimulated Raman scattering a silica
molecule absorbs energy from an
incident photon giving it a lower energy
and a longer wavelength
• The modified photon is called a Stokes
photon.
• Because the optical signal wave that is
injected into a fiber is the source of the
interacting photons, it is called the
pump wave because it supplies power
for the generated wave.
• The power transferred to a higher-
wavelength channel increases
approximately linearly with channel
spacing up to about 16 THz (or 125 nm
at 1550-nm), and then drops off sharply
for larger spacing.
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 Stimulated Brillouin Scattering
• In stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) a strong
optical signal generates an acoustic wave that
produces variations in the refractive index.
• The index variations cause lightwaves to scatter
in the backward direction.
• The backscattered light experiences gain from
the forward-propagating signals, which leads to
depletion of the signal power.
• Below a signal level called the SBS threshold,
the transmitted power increases linearly with
the input level and SBS is negligible.
• Beyond the SBS threshold, the % increase in
signal depletion grows with signal strength
• Beyond the SBS limit any additional launched
optical power is scattered backward in the fiber.
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 Kerr Effect
• The refractive index n of many optical materials has a weak
dependence on optical intensity I (power/Aeff) given by

• Here n0 is the ordinary refractive index of the material and n2

is the nonlinear index coefficient.
• n2 is about 2.6  10-8 μm2/W in silica, between 1.2 - 5.1  10-6
μm2/W in tellurite glasses, and 2.4  10-5 μm2/W in As40Se60
chalcogenide glass.
• The refractive index nonlinearity is the Kerr nonlinearity.

33
 Self-Phase Modulation (SPM)
• The Kerr nonlinearity produces a carrier-induced
phase modulation of the propagating signal called
the Kerr effect.
• In single-wavelength links, the Kerr effect gives rise
to self-phase modulation (SPM).
• This converts light power fluctuations in a wave to
spurious phase fluctuations in the same wave.
• In a medium having an intensity-dependent
refractive index, a time-varying signal intensity will
produce a time-varying refractive index.
• The leading edge of a pulse will see a positive dn/dt,
whereas the trailing edge will see a negative dn/dt.
• This leads to frequency chirping, in that the rising
edge of the pulse shifts toward lower frequencies,
and the trailing edge toward higher frequencies.

34
 Cross-Phase Modulation (XPM)
• Cross-phase modulation (XPM) appears in WDM systems and
has a similar origin as SPM.
• The refractive index nonlinearity converts optical intensity
fluctuations in a particular wavelength channel to phase
fluctuations in another copropagating channel.
• XPM only appears when the two interacting light beams or
pulses overlap in space and time.
• When multiple wavelengths propagate in a fiber, the total
phase shift for an optical signal with frequency ωi is

35
 Four-Wave Mixing (FWM)
• Four-wave mixing (FWM) is a third-order nonlinearity in optical fibers
that is analogous to intermodulation distortion in electrical systems.
• When wavelength channels are located near the zero-dispersion point, 3
optical frequencies will mix to produce a 4th intermodulation product
given by

• If this frequency falls in the transmission window of the original

frequencies, it can cause severe crosstalk.

36
 FWM Mitigation
• If the chromatic dispersion is low, or if there are regions of both positive
and negative dispersion in the DWDM operating band, then a large
number of FWM terms can be generated by the DWDM signals.
• If G.653 dispersion-shifted fibers are used for DWDM in the C-band, the
positive and negative dispersion regions around 1550 nm can generate a
large number of interfering in-band signals.
• The G.655 fiber has a chromatic dispersion value ranging from about 3
to 9 ps/(nm · km) in the entire C-band.

37
 Wavelength Converters
• One beneficial application of XPM and FWM techniques is for
performing wavelength conversion in WDM networks.
• An optical wavelength converter is a device that can translate
information on an incoming wavelength directly to a new wavelength
without entering the electrical domain.

38
 Solitons
• A pulse shape known as a soliton takes advantage of nonlinear effects in
silica, particularly SPM resulting from the Kerr nonlinearity, to overcome
the pulse-broadening effects of GVD.
• Solitons are very narrow, high-intensity optical pulses that retain their
shape through the interaction of balancing pulse dispersion with the
nonlinear properties of an optical fiber.
• If the relative effects of SPM and GVD are controlled just right, and the
appropriate pulse shape is chosen, the pulse compression resulting from
SPM can exactly offset the pulse broadening effect of GVD.

39
 Dispersive Pulse Propagation
• When a dispersive pulse traverses a medium with a positive GVD
parameter, the leading part of the pulse is shifted toward a longer
wavelength so that the speed in that portion increases.
• In the trailing half, the frequency rises so the speed decreases.
• Consequently, in addition to a spectral change with distance, the energy
in the center of the pulse is dispersed to either side, and the pulse
eventually takes on a rectangular-wave shape.

40
 Soliton Pulse Propagation
• When a narrow high-intensity pulse traverses a medium with a negative
GVD parameter, GVD counteracts the chirp produced by SPM.
• GVD retards the low frequencies in the front end of the pulse and
advances the high frequencies at the back.
• The high-intensity sharply peaked soliton pulse changes neither its
shape nor its spectrum as it travels along the fiber.

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 Phase Shifts of a Soliton Pulse
• The first-order effects of the dispersive and
nonlinear terms are complementary phase shifts
Phase shift for
nonlinear processes:

Phase shift for

Dispersion effect:

42