TY - JOUR
T1 - Propagation of the electromagnetic field in optical-limiting reverse-saturable absorbers
AU - Kim, S.
AU - McLaughlin, D.
AU - Potasek, M.
PY - 2000/2
Y1 - 2000/2
N2 - Reverse-saturable absorbers are of considerable interest for optical limiting. Using the electric dipole perturbation, we derived the rate equation for a five-level system describing reverse-saturable absorbers. Traditional theories for the propagating laser beam in these materials are expressed in terms of the optical intensity. However, with the introduction of high-power short-pulsed lasers, the propagation of light in these materials may be subject to nonlinear phenomena such as self-focusing and self-phase modulation. Furthermore, conventional theories treat the laser light as a continuous wave or as a very broad temporal pulse in which dispersive effects are neglected. In order to incorporate these other nonlinear or dispersive effects, and therefore determine their influence in reverse-saturable absorbers, we derived an equation for the propagation of the electromagnetic field, rather than the intensity, coupled to the rate equations for a five-level system. We also coupled our theory to experimentally measurable parameters for these materials and detailed the various physical approximations used to obtain the rate equations.
AB - Reverse-saturable absorbers are of considerable interest for optical limiting. Using the electric dipole perturbation, we derived the rate equation for a five-level system describing reverse-saturable absorbers. Traditional theories for the propagating laser beam in these materials are expressed in terms of the optical intensity. However, with the introduction of high-power short-pulsed lasers, the propagation of light in these materials may be subject to nonlinear phenomena such as self-focusing and self-phase modulation. Furthermore, conventional theories treat the laser light as a continuous wave or as a very broad temporal pulse in which dispersive effects are neglected. In order to incorporate these other nonlinear or dispersive effects, and therefore determine their influence in reverse-saturable absorbers, we derived an equation for the propagation of the electromagnetic field, rather than the intensity, coupled to the rate equations for a five-level system. We also coupled our theory to experimentally measurable parameters for these materials and detailed the various physical approximations used to obtain the rate equations.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0347108572&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/physreva.61.025801
DO - 10.1103/physreva.61.025801
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0347108572
SN - 1050-2947
VL - 61
SP - 258011
EP - 258014
JO - Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
JF - Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
IS - 2
M1 - 025801
ER -