Abstract

Photorefractive (PR) nonlinear optical single domain crystals are widely investigated for all-optical signal processing.^1,2 KNbO₃ possesses high electro-optic coefficients, very high nonlinear optical susceptibilities and strong birefringence that allows many different phase-matched interactions.^3,4 Iron- doped KNbO₃ is a potential candidate for PR signal processing due to its high sensitivity.⁵ The response times of PR effects scale as the inverse (or inverse square-root) of the intensity, leading to the current interest in increasing the intensity by confining the interacting beams within a waveguide. The technique of ion implantation is well suited for producing waveguides in ferroelectric oxides such as BaTiO₃ and KNbO₃.^6,7 In recent publications^8,9,10 two- beam coupling in BaTiO₃ and KNbO₃ planar waveguides as well as self-pumped phase conjugation in a BaTiO₃ waveguide were reported.

© 1994 Optical Society of America