Title

Interplay Between Self-Focusing And High-Order Multiphoton Absorption

Abstract

We study the distortion, of optical beams that is due to the combined effects of strong self-focusing and three-and four-photon absorption, a situation that exists, for example, in the polydiacetylene bis-paratoluene suifonate (PTS). The characteristic nonlinear distances were defined for each process. Theoretical analysis of the beam propagation leads to two distinct limits, one limit dominated by self-focusing and the other by higher-order absorption. Propagation was studied analytically and numerically for cw and pulsed beams in these two limits and for cases in which both nonlinear effects are important. It was found that beam distortion caused by multiphoton absorption and refraction leads to situations in which diffraction plays an important role, even for input beams whose diffraction length is much larger than the sample length. It was concluded that, for the typical intensities used in Z-scan measurements, nonlinear processes and diffraction contribute simultaneously to beam distortion and must be taken into account. © 2001 Optical Society of America.

Publication Date

1-1-2001

Publication Title

Journal of the Optical Society of America B: Optical Physics

Volume

18

Issue

12

Number of Pages

1891-1895

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAB.18.001891

Socpus ID

0013460195 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/0013460195

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