Abstract

We present a detailed analysis of the parametric interaction between a strong and a weak coherent beam with a varying mixture of extraordinary and ordinary rays in nonlinear birefringent media, such as liquid crystals and photorefractive crystals. Through the induced refractive-index changes associated with scalar parameters, such as temperature and space-charge density, the e- and o-rays are energetically coupled, leading to beam amplification and polarization-switching effects. We present the explicit conditions for observing these effects and a detailed analysis of the feasibility of doing so based on experimental data on liquid crystals.

© 1990 Optical Society of America