Estudo de propagação de luz em meio Kerr utilizando um material fotorrefrativo

Abstract

Nonlinear effects have been discussed since the end of the last century with the advances in modern physics, which enabled the invention of the laser and the discovery of photonic crystals. The branch of optics has expanded to such an extent that it has revolutionized the study of light phenomena. By propagating light in organic and inorganic crystals, adverse behaviors such as the linear change in refractive index (Pockles Effect) and the quadratic change in refractive index (Kerr Effect), both dependent on the electric field applied to the sample material, were noticed. Electro-optic, photoconductive, photorefractive effects, among others, are influenced by the electric field that produces a variation in the refractive index and other properties, such as electron diffusion, variation in optical absorption, and temperature variation. A brief history of the electromagnetic theory of light was performed, and from there we arrived at the mathematical rigor that defines the propagation of light pulses in complex systems: the non-linear Schrodinger equation. It was also commented on the split-step, a type of numerical method that solves complex optical systems. Then it was argued about the characteristics and behavior of light when it interacts with nonlinear media, in specific, it was analyzed the behavior of light under the effects of autofocusing and defocusing, caused by the variation of the refractive index resulting from the application of a stationary electric field and by the self-induced effect of the optical field.