Structural rearrangements and second-order optical response in the space charge layer of thermally poled sodium-niobium borophosphate glasses

Sodium-niobium borophosphate glasses have been thermally poled and studied in the mid- and far-infrared range to probe their possible structural rearrangements and to correlate them with the measured nonlinear optical (NLO) response. The infrared analysis of thermally poled and depoled glasses has revealed systematic structural changes in the NLO-active space charge layer at the anode on the basis of which we suggest that sodium ion migration from this layer is accompanied by an equivalent migration of oxide ions. Ion depletion in the NLO layer induces extensive, but partially reversible by depoling, modifications of the phosphate and niobate parts of the network that depend on the composition of the glass..

Nonlinear optical properties of glass

Numerous innovations in photonics have been realized on the basis of nonlinear optical properties, notably in information technologies. Totake advantage of the nonlinear optical properties of glass, multidisciplinary research efforts were necessary, combining optics, glass chemistry,material science, as well as development of optical or electrical polarizations processes. This chapter addresses both fundamental aspects of nonlinear optical responses and also the exploitation of nonlinear optical phenomena in glassy material. It starts by a general introduction to nonlinear optical phenomena and concepts. Then, the specific cases of second and third optical responses in glasses are treated separately and described in detail as a function of the corresponding optical phenomena, the various glass families, and their applications