A simple optical system is proposed to generate full-Poincaré beams, i.e., beams presenting all possible states of (total) polarization across their transverse section. The method consists in focusing a uniformly polarized laser beam onto a uniaxial crystal having its optic axis parallel to the propagation axis of the impinging beam. A simple approximated model is used to obtain the analytical expression of the beam polarization at the output of the crystal. The output beam is then proved to be a full-Poincaré beam. By changing the polarization state of the input field, full-Poincaré beams are still obtained, but presenting different distributions of the polarization state across the beam section. Experimental results are reported, showing an excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions.

We experimentally demonstrate simultaneous phase and group velocity locking of fundamental and generated second harmonic pulses in Lithium Niobate, under conditions of material phase mismatch. In phase-mismatched, pulsed second harmonic generation in addition to a reflected signal two forward-propagating pulses are also generated at the interface between a linear and a second order nonlinear material: the first pulse results from the solution of the homogeneous wave equation, and propagates at the group velocity expected from material dispersion; the second pulse is the solution of the inhomogeneous wave equation, is phase-locked and trapped by the pump pulse, and follows the pump trajectory. At normal incidence, the normal and phase locked pulses simply trail each other. At oblique incidence, the consequences can be quite dramatic. The homogeneous pulse refracts as predicted by material dispersion and Snell's law, yielding at least two spatially separate second harmonic spots at the medium's exit. We thus report the first experimental results showing that, at oblique incidence, fundamental and phase-locked second harmonic pulses travel with the same group velocity and follow the same trajectory. This is direct evidence that, at least up to first order, the effective dispersion of the phase-locked pulse is similar to the dispersion of the pump pulse.

We study adiabatic light transfer in systems of two coupled waveguides with spatially varying detuning of the propagation constants, providing an analogy to the quantum phenomena of rapid adiabatic passage (RAP) and two-state stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (two-state STIRAP). Experimental demonstration using a photoinduction technique confirms the robust and broadband character of the structures that act as broadband directional couplers and broadband beam splitters, respectively.