Abstract

The design of nonlinear optical devices for digital optical switching, logic, and nonlinear optical signal processing requires knowledge of the nonlinear absorption cross section and nonlinear index of the materials. We report the first near-band-gap measurements of these coefficients in room-temperature quaternaries at wavelengths of interest for optical communication (λ ~ 1.5 μm). The nonlinear coefficients are obtained from pump–probe and forward degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) experiments in thin platelets of Ga_0.4In_0.6As_.87P_.13. In the pump–probe experiments, a strong pump beam alters the absorption of the material, and the change is monitored by a much weaker probe beam.

© 1985 Optical Society of America