Enhanced Kerr electro-optic nonlinearity and its application in controlling second-harmonic generation

We proposed a new scheme of controlling second-harmonic generation by enhanced Kerr electro-optic nonlinearity. We designed a structure that can implement the cascaded Pockels effect and second-harmonic generation simultaneously. The energy coupling between the fundamental lights of different polarizations led to a large nonlinear phase shift and, thus, an effective electro-optic nonlinear refractive index. The effective nonlinearity can be either positive or negative, causing the second-harmonic spectra to move toward the coupling center, which, in turn, offered us a way to measure the effective electro-optic nonlinear refractive index. The corresponding enhanced Kerr electro-optic nonlinearity is more than three orders of magnitude higher than the intrinsic value. These results open a door to manipulate the nonlinear phase by applying an external electric field instead of light intensity in noncentrosymmetric crystals. (C) 2015 Chinese Laser Press