Nonlinear optics with structured light

Abstract

The interest in tailoring light in all its degrees of freedom is steadily gaining traction, driven by the tremendous developments in the toolkit for the creation, control and detection of what is now called structured light. Because the complexity of these optical fields is generally understood in terms of interference, the tools have historically been linear optical elements that create the desired superpositions. For this reason, despite the long and impressive history of nonlinear optics, only recently has the spatial structure of light in nonlinear processes come to the fore. In this review we provide a concise theoretical framework for understanding nonlinear optics in the context of structured light, offering an overview and perspective on the progress made, and the challenges that remain.

Real‐Time Superresolution Interferometric Measurement Enabled by Structured Nonlinear Optics

“…The corresponding harmonic OAM modes are: LG mode with the same OAM that can be calculated via the full-field selection rule for structured light in SFG. [49,50] Specifically, in state (3) |LG…”

Evolution on spatial patterns of structured laser beams: from spontaneous organization to multiple transformations

“…Such beams have brought various breakthroughs to many fields, including imaging, 24 , 25 microscopy, 26 , 27 metrology, 28 – 30 communication, 31 – 33 optical trapping, 34 – 36 and quantum information processing 37 – 39 In the most recent five years, the number of reviews on structured light has boomed, with the majority of reviews focusing on technical-level research into the phenomenon, 40 – 54 such as the generation and detection technology of structured light, 44 , 45 application in the field of optical trapping 46 , 47 and anti-turbulence, 48 progress in optical vortices 49 – 51 and higher-dimensional structured light, 52 as well as research on structured light in flat optics 53 and nonlinear optics 54 . In contrast, there have been few studies on the evolution of the investigations and corresponding understandings of the pattern formation of structured laser beams.…”

“…[37][38][39] In the most recent five years, the number of reviews on structured light has boomed, with the majority of reviews focusing on technicallevel research into the phenomenon, [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] such as the generation and detection technology of structured light, 44,45 application in the field of optical trapping 46,47 and anti-turbulence, 48 progress in optical vortices [49][50][51] and higher-dimensional structured light, 52 as well as research on structured light in flat optics 53 and nonlinear optics. 54 In contrast, there have been few studies on the evolution of the investigations and corresponding understandings of the pattern formation of structured laser beams. Here, we would like to take the spatial patterns as the main core to review the evolution and recent advancement on spatial patterns of structured laser beams, from the early spontaneous organization with numerical solutions of mathematical equations and eigenmode superposition theories to the multiple transformations of the spatiotemporal dimensions and nonlinear process of structured laser beams.…”

Polarization-Controlled Nonlinear Computer-Generated Holography

“…Here, the physical principles of the nonlinear conversion of structured light have been well-explored and several works use beam characteristics such as polarization [18], differing wavelengths [15][16][17] or non-collinear geometries [19] as a control mechanism for the nonlinear conversion of optical vortices. The recent review paper published by Buono and Forbes gives an overview on nonlinear optics with structured light [24]. Currently, there are two major approaches to nonlinear holography: directly structuring the nonlinear crystal or imaging the plane of an LC-SLM into the crystal.…”