Georgia Institute of TechnologyOptics + Photonics at Georgia Tech
Dr. Dickson and researchers in his labDr. Kippelen with graduate researcher

Nonlinear Optics

RESEARCH FACULTY

Tech Researcher
Nonlinear Optics Researchers
Meet the Georgia Tech faculty involved in nonlinear optics research.

The field of nonlinear optics was initiated shortly after the discovery of the laser with the experiment of second-harmonic generation by Franken and colleagues in 1961. Since then, the field has grown considerably and covers numerous aspects ranging from fundamental studies of light-matter interactions to applications in lasers, optical communications, and biology.

Nonlinear optical cube
Photograph of a three-dimensional photonic crystal structure fabricated by two-photon-induced photopolymerization.
(Courtesy of J. Perry)

Today, nonlinear optics plays an increasing role in almost every area of optical technology. Examples of applications of optical nonlinear phenomena include frequency conversion of lasers (e.g. green laser pointers); the routing, switching, and amplification of optical signals; confocal laser scanning microscopy; two-photon microscopy to generate depth-resolved images of biological tissues.

Nonlinear optical equipment
Photograph of the third-harmonic generation at an infrared (1,500 nm) laser beam in an organic thin film. Infrared light is converted into visible green light.
(Courtesy of B. Kippelen)

Nonlinear optics will play a major role in the development of future optical data networks with increased transmission capacity by enabling the controlled switching and routing of optical signals. These devices will be based on the ability to modulate the refractive index of nonlinear materials with an electric field or with a light beam. Nonlinear optics will continue to provide new imaging tools with capabilities that go far beyond that of conventional microscopes. Other applications in biology include novel drug delivery techniques and nonlinear photodynamic therapy for cancer treatment.

FROG
SHG FROG traces (and retrieved intensities and phases) of 1.55-micron fiber-laser pulses compressed in dispersion-decreasing fiber and then dispersed in SMF-28 with varying intensity. Traces taken by Fredrik Fatemi, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., and published in Opt. Lett. 2002.
(Source: R. Trebino Web site)

Research in nonlinear optics at Tech is focusing on several key aspects, including the development of new materials with unprecedented nonlinear optical properties, the very precise characterization of ultrashort laser pulses using frequency conversion, the understanding of light propagation in optical fibers, and the scanning of tightly focused laser beams to fabricate high-resolution three-dimensional objects by photoinduced polymerization.