Optical nonlinearity in photonic glasses

Abstract

A brief review of optical nonlinearity in photonic glasses is given. For third-order nonlinearity, the relationship between two-photon absorption and nonlinear refractive index is considered using a formalism developed for crystalline semiconductors. Stimulated light scattering and supercontinuum generation in optical fibers and waveguides are introduced. Prominent resonant-type nonlinearity in particle-embedded glasses is described. For second-order nonlinearity, a variety of poling methods are summarized. The nonlinearity also appears in crystallized and ceramic glasses. Finally, it is pointed out that various photoinduced changes can appear when excited by linear and nonlinear optical processes.