Transverse instabilities of counterpropagating beams in Kerr media

William J. Firth; C. Penman

doi:10.1117/12.131800

16 December 1992 Transverse instabilities of counterpropagating beams in Kerr media

William J. Firth, C. Penman

Proceedings Volume 1840, Transverse Patterns in Nonlinear Optics; (1992) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.131800
Event: XIV International Conference on Coherent and Nonlinear Optics, 1991, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

Abstract

Thresholds of transverse instabilities arising from the mutual interaction of counterpropagating waves in a slab of Kerr medium without any cavity or mirror feedback are calculated from first principles, allowing for the effects of diffusion on the longitudinal index grating and for the field polarization. It is shown that the amplitude and polarization instabilities decouple in the linear limit under rather general conditions. Static polarization instabilities may have lowest threshold for finite transverse wave vector or on axis, depending on the Kerr constants. Analytic expressions are presented for the latter case. Numerical simulations show hexagon formation, consistent with related experiments.

Citation Download Citation

William J. Firth and C. Penman "Transverse instabilities of counterpropagating beams in Kerr media", Proc. SPIE 1840, Transverse Patterns in Nonlinear Optics, (16 December 1992); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.131800

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available