Abstract

A micrometer-size transparent droplet acts as a lens which concentrates the incident intensity at two main locations within and outside the shadow face of the droplet. The internal high intensity along with the nearly total internal reflections at the spherical liquid–air interface can give rise to nonlinear optical effects such as lasing,¹ stimulated Raman scattering,² multiorder Stokes emission,³ and phase-modulation-induced linewidth broadening.⁴ Four-wave mixing processes such as coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering and coherent Raman gain have also been observed in single water and ethanol droplets.⁵

© 1987 Optical Society of America