The scientific and technological importance of lasers has generated great interest in the field of cavity nonlinear optics. This book provides a thorough description of this subject in terms of modern dynamical systems theory, with an emphasis on deriving analytical results and highlighting their physical significance. The book applies physical models for active and passive cavities to a variety of problems in laser theory, optical bistability and parametric oscillators. Subjects include scaling laws, Hopf bifurcations, passive Q-switching, and Turing instabilities. Several of the topics treated cannot be found in other books, including swept control parameter dynamics, laser stability, multimode rate equations, and antiphase dynamics. The book stresses the connections between theoretical work and actual experimental results, and will be of great interest to graduate students and researchers in theoretical physics, nonlinear optics, and laser physics.

By recirculating light in a nonlinear propagation medium, the nonlinear optical cavity allows for countless options of light transformation and manipulation. In passive media, optical bistability and frequency conversion are central figures. In active media, laser light can be generated with versatile underlying dynamics. Emphasizing on ultrafast dynamics, the vital arena for the information technology, the soliton is a common conceptual keyword, thriving into its modern developments with the closely related denominations of dissipative solitons and cavity solitons. Recent technological breakthroughs in optical cavities, from micro-resonators to ultra-long fiber cavities, have entitled the exploration of nonlinear optical dynamics over unprecedented spatial and temporal orders of magnitude. By gathering key contributions by renowned experts, this book aims at bridging the gap between recent research topics with a view to foster cross-fertilization between research areas and stimulating creative optical engineering design.

Fundamentals of Nonlinear Optics encompasses a broad spectrum of nonlinear phenomena from second-harmonic generation to soliton formation. The wide use of nonlinear optical phenomena in laboratories and commercial devices requires familiarity with the underlying physics as well as practical device considerations. This text adopts a combined approach to analyze the complimentary aspects of nonlinear optics, enabling a fundamental understanding of both a given effect and practical device applications. After a review chapter on linear phenomena important to nonlinear optics, the book tackles nonlinear phenomena with a look at the technologically important processes of second-harmonic generation, sum-frequency and difference-frequency generation, and the electro-optic effect. The author covers these processes in considerable detail at both theoretical and practical levels as the formalisms developed for these effects carry to subsequent topics, such as four-wave mixing, self-phase modulation, Raman scattering, Brillouin scattering, and soliton formation. Consistently connecting theory, process, effects, and applications, this introductory text encourages students to master key concepts and to solve nonlinear optics problems—preparing them for more advanced study. Along with extensive problems at the end of each chapter, it presents general algorithms accessible to any scientific graphical and programming package. Watch the author speak about the book.

A comprehensive description of cavity nonlinear optics in terms of modern dynamical systems theory.

Directed toward physicists and engineers interested in the device applications enabled by nonlinear optics, this text is suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Its content is presented entirely on a classical basis and requires only an elementary knowledge of quantum mechanics. The authors demonstrate how real laboratory situations can diverge from ideal theory, acquainting readers with the kinds of problems common to construction of a nonlinear device. They also offer a detailed discussion of the practical problems and characteristics of nonlinear materials, as well as the selection procedures necessary to ensure the use of good material. Their treatment begins with an introduction to the theories of linear and nonlinear optics, along with the basic ideas behind them. Succeeding chapters explore phase matching and nonlinear materials, followed by detailed treatments of second-harmonic generation, parametric up-conversion, and optical parametric amplification and oscillation. Appendixes offer a comprehensive list of materials and their properties; the text concludes with references and an index.

This book is devoted to the numerous phenomena arising from the interplay between electromagnetic resonances and nonlinear optical interactions. These resonances are associated with surface plasmas or guided waves, excited in nonlinear optical resonators such as prisms or grating couplers. Topics include rigorous theories of diffraction by gratings in nonlinear optics, presented in a form ready for numerical implementations; scattering the matrix description in nonlinear optics leading to the phenomological approach based on the use of poles and zeros and other behaviours.

This book is the first comprehensive volume on nonlinear dynamics and chaos in optical systems. A few books have been published recently, but they summarize applied mathematical methodologies toward understanding of nonlinear dynamics in laser systems with small degrees of freedom focusing on linearized perturbation and bifurcation analyses. In contrast to these publications, this book summarizes nonlinear dynamic problems in optical complex systems possessing large degrees of freedom, systematically featuring our original experimental results and their theoretical treatments. The new concepts introduced in this book will have a wide appeal to audiences involved in a rapidly-growing field of nonlinear dynamics. This book focuses on nonlinear dynamics and cooperative functions in realistic optical complex systems, such as multimode lasers, laser array, coupled nonlinear-element systems, and their applications to optical processing. This book is prepared for graduate students majoring in optical and laser physics, but the generic nature of complex systems described in this book may stimulate researchers in the field of nonlinear dynamics covering different academic areas including applied mathematics, hydrodynamics, celestial mechanics, chemistry, biology, and economics.