Nonlinear Raman-Nath diffraction (NRND) is a unique diffraction pattern formed when a high-intensity laser interacts with a nonlinear microstructure bulky medium relying only on the transverse phase matching condition. Here, we report on the first experimental observation of NRND in a submicron-thick periodically poled lithium niobate thin film (PPLNTF) by geometric reflection pumped via a near-infrared femtosecond pulse laser. We further observe the evolution of the diffracted signals after broadening of the pump laser via a fused silica plate. We systematically analyze the spectral properties of multi-order second harmonic generation (SHG) diffracted signals exhibiting asymmetric distributions and explicitly clarify their phase matching conditions, simultaneously considering the impacts of the incident pump wavelength, the sample poling period, and the incident angle on the properties of the angular distribution diffracted beams. The realization of NRND phenomena with appreciable on-chip efficiency at a submicron interaction length is mainly attributed to the significant contribution of domain walls to enhance the nonlinear effects along with the modulation of second-order nonlinear susceptibilities χ ( 2 ) . This NRND scheme provides a high-resolution, non-destructive on-chip microstructure diagnostic method, and even has the potential to develop novel on-chip integrated optoelectronic devices for applications such as precision metrology, biosensing, and spectral analysis.
PhotoniX
Experimental study
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Nonlinear Raman-Nath diffraction in submicron-thick periodically poled lithium niobate thin film
27-Dec-2024
The authors declare that they have no competing interests. All authors agreed to publish this paper.