Describing progress achieved in the field of nonlinear optics and nonlinear optical materials, the Handbook treats selected topics such as photorefractive materials, third-order nonlinear optical materials and organic nonlinear optical crystals, as well as electro-optic polymers. Applications of photorefractive materials in optical memories, optical processing, and guided-wave nonlinear optics in hotorefractive waveguides are described. As light will play a more and more dominant role as an information carrier, the review of existing and new materials given here makes this a keystone book in the field.

Contemporary Nonlinear Optics discusses the different activities in the field of nonlinear optics. The book is comprised of 10 chapters. Chapter 1 presents a description of the field of nonlinear guided-wave optics. Chapter 2 surveys a new branch of nonlinear optics under the heading optical solitons. Chapter 3 reviews recent progress in the field of optical phase conjugation. Chapter 4 discusses ultrafast nonlinear optics, a field that is growing rapidly with the ability of generating and controlling femtosecond optical pulses. Chapter 5 examines a branch of nonlinear optics that may be termed nonlinear quantum optics. Chapter 6 reviews the new field of photorefractive adaptive neural networks. Chapter 7 presents a discussion of recent successes in the development of nonlinear optical media based on organic materials. Chapter 8 reviews the field of nonlinear optics in quantum confined structures. Chapter 9 reviews the field of nonlinear laser spectroscopy, with emphasis on advances made during the 1980s. Finally, Chapter 10 reviews the field of nonlinear optical dynamics by considering nonlinear optical systems that exhibit temporal, spatial, or spatio-temporal instabilities. This book is a valuable source for physicists and other scientists interested in optical systems and neural networks.

Molecular Dynamics in Restricted Geometries Edited by Joseph Klafter and J. M. Drake This investigation of the chemistry and physics of complex systems focuses on the role of spatial restrictions on molecular movement. A practical source-book for researchers in chemical physics, chemical engineering, and condensed matter physics, and for graduate students in these fields, it covers a broad range of topics and critically evaluates methods as they are employed. Among the many topics it covers are: relaxation and diffusion in restricted geometries, excitation energy transfer and photoinduced electron transfer phenomena in some confined systems, electron excitation transport in micelles, polymers and multilayers, and electron excitation transport on polymer chains. 1989 (0 471-60176-4) 437 pp.

Nonlinear optical materials play a pivotal role in the future evolution of nonlinear optics in general and its impact in technology and industrial applications in particular. The progress in nonlinear optics has been tremendous since the first demonstration of an all-optical nonlinear effect in the early sixties, but until recently the main visible emphasis was on the physical aspects of the nonlinear radiation matter interaction. In the last decade, however, this effort has also brought its fruits in applied aspects of nonlinear optics. This can be essentially traced to the improvement of the performances of the nonlinear optical materials. Our understanding of the nonlinear polarization mechanisms and their relation to the structural characteristics of the materials has been considerably improved. In addition, the new development of techniques for the fabrication and growth of artificial materials has dramatically contributed to this evolution. The goal is to find and develop materials presenting large nonlinearities and satisfying at the same time all the technological requirements for applications such as wide transparency range, fast response, high damage threshold but also processability, adaptability and interfacing with other materials. Improvements, besides rendering possible the implementation of nonlinear effects in devices, open the way to the study of new nonlinear optical effects and the introduction of new concepts. This book describes new concepts which are emerging in the field of nonlinear optical materials, concentrating the attention on materials which seem more promising for applications in the technology of information transmission and processing.

Nonlinear optics is a topic of much current interest that exhibits a great diversity. Some publications on the subject are clearly physics, while others reveal an engineering bias; some appear to be accessible to the chemist, while others may appeal to biological understanding. Yet all purport to be non linear optics so where is the underlying unity? The answer is that the unity lies in the phenomena and the devices that exploit them, while the diversity lies in the materials used to express the phenomena. This book is an attempt to show this unity in diversity by bringing together contributions covering an unusually wide range of materials, preceded by accounts of the main phenomena and important devices. Because ofthe diversity, individual materials are treated in separate chapters by different expert authors, while as editors we have shouldered the task of providing the unifying initial chapters. Most main classes of nonlinear optical solids are treated: semiconductors, glasses, ferroelectrics, molecular crystals, polymers, and Langmuir-Blodgett films. (However, liquid crystals are not covered. ) Each class of material is enough for a monograph in itself, and this book is designed to be an introduction suitable for graduate students and those in industry entering the area of nonlinear optics. It is also suitable in parts for final-year undergraduates on project work. It aims to provide a bridge between traditional fields of expertise and the broader field of nonlinear optics.

Photonics, the counterpart of electronics, involves the usage of Photons instead of electrons to process information and perform various switching operations. Photonics is projected to be the technology of the future because of the gain in speed, processing and interconnectivity of network. Nonlinear optical processes will play the key role in photonics Where they can be used for frequency conversion, optical switching and modulation. Organic molecules and polymers have emerged as a new class of highly promising nonlinear optical materials Which has captured the attention of scientists world wide. The organic systems offer the advantage of large nonresonant nonlinearities derived from the 1T electrons contribution, femtosecond response time and the flexibility to modify their molecular structures. In addition, organic polymers can easily be fabricated in various device structures compatible with the fiber-optics communication system. The area of nonlinear optics of organic molecules and polymers offers exciting opportunities for both fundamental research and technologic development. It is truly an interdisciplinary area. This proceeding is the outcome of the first NATO Advanced Research WOrkshop in this highly important area. The objective of the workshop was to provide a forum for scientists of varying background from both universities and industries to come together and interface their expertize. The scope of the workshop was multidisciplinary with active participations from Chemists, physicists, engineers and materials scientists from many countries.