Journal article
Polarization properties of a photorefractive Bi12SiO20 crystal and their application in an optical correlator
The polarization properties of Bi12SiO20 (BSO) crystals are investigated in detail theoretically and experimentally, and the results are used to describe the operation of an optical correlator for a particle image velocimeter (PIV) using a BSO crystal as the nonlinear optical element. The work is based on an extension of the optical beam-propagation (OBP) method to include all the significant optical properties of the BSO crystal when used in a two-wave mixing configuration, i.e., optical activity, field-induced birefringence, and anisotropic diffraction.
The model is able to handle multiple gratings where the input beams do not have to be symmetric about the axis of propagation. Using the numerical model the polarization properties of the BSO crystal are analyzed and the operation of the correlator is explained. The model is able to take into account self-diffraction effects, and it is shown that these effects can have a significant influence in the setup employed for the optical correlator even when the diffraction efficiency is low.
The predictions of the numerical model are verified by extensive experiments on the polarization state of the output of the correlator as a function of operating conditions and of the polarization state of the input beams
| Language: | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | IEEE |
| Year: | 1994 |
| Pages: | 1075-1089 |
| ISSN: | 15581713 and 00189197 |
| Types: | Journal article |
| DOI: | 10.1109/3.291377 |
| ORCIDs: | Andersen, Peter E. and Petersen, Paul Michael |
Bi/sub 12/SiO/sub 20/ Bismuth Correlators Geometrical optics Nonlinear optics Numerical models Optical beams Optical diffraction Optical mixing Optical polarization Photorefractive effect anisotropic diffraction axis of propagation birefringence bismuth compounds diffraction efficiency field-induced birefringence input beams light diffraction light polarisation modelling multiple gratings multiwave mixing nonlinear optical element numerical model operating conditions optical activity optical beam-propagation method optical correlation optical correlator optical rotation output particle image velocimeter photorefractive Bi/sub 12/SiO/sub 20/ crystal photorefractive materials polarization properties polarization state self-diffraction effects two-wave mixing configuration
