Abstract
Photon-photon scattering in a vacuum1a is perhaps one of the most fundamental mechanisms giving rise to nonlinear optical effects.1b However, none of the previously proposed effects has been observed in the experiment.1b Recently, we have demonstrated the feasibility of new nonlinear magneto-optical effects in a vacuum that gives rise to optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) under the action of both strong dc magnetic field (Ho) and high intensity optical laser radiation available.2 Here we review practical aspects of possible experiment on the SHG in vacuum. Stipulating that signal-to-noise ratio is sufficiently high, e.g., =102, and using pulsed magnetic field H0 ~ 8 × 106 Gauss, one can obtain the least laser intensity of I1 ≃ 1014W/cm2. With such an intensity or even higher, the average number of detected photons per pulse nears unity. One can use averaging of photon counts over a few laser beam lines for a single pulse or/and over many pulses of laser. NOVA with λ1 ~ 0.35m or GEKKO XII with λ ~ 0.53 μm can provide the laser energy of 6-10 kJ/pulse in each of 10~12 beam lines. If all the beam lines are used, the probability of not observing any SHG photons can be as low as ~10-6-10-4. Using picosecond lasers, the number of pulses required to observe the effect is ~106-107. SHG from the plasma of the ionized residual gas becomes negligible compared with vacuum contribution when the vacuum pressure is < 10-5 torr.
© 1990 Optical Society of America
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