Abstract

Recent experimental results and theoretical investigations are reported concerning sum- and difference frequency generation in the bulk of acentric optically - active liquids comprised of chiral molecules (chiral liquids) as well as SHG and THG of femtosecond pulses reflected from the surface of such liquids. Frequency dependence of second-order optical nonlinearity was studied, for the first time. Dramatic resonant enhancement (more than two orders of magnitude) of multiple - wave mixing processes due to excitation of surface electromagnetic waves at the metallic diffraction gratings are also detected and theoretically explained. Several novel nonlinear optical effects are investigated which are characteristic for the acentric isotropic liquids and solids with natural optical activity, including magnetic field induced SHG, optical rectification, photo-galvanic and photo-refractive effects, BioCARS process.

© 1996 Optical Society of America