Transverse optical structures in a ring resonator with intensity-phase coupling

Abstract

We report observations of transverse optical structures (traveling bright light spots) that appear in a novel type of ring resonator. In this arrangement an optically addressable liquid-crystal spatial light modulator is combined with a BaTiO(3) crystal that provides strong photorefractive beam fanning. The information traveling around is carried either by the phase or by the intensity of the light waves in different parts of the resonator. The movement of the transverse structures is related to the alignment of the resonator, which is controlled by an interferometer. It is demonstrated that such a resonator is able to store weak optical signals.

<title>Review of the nonlinear common path interferometer</title>

“…The main problem with this technique is the construction and precise alignment of the filter. The use of intensity dependent nonlinear materials to photoinduce the filter has been suggested recently [2][3][4][5][6]. Such a filter yields the possibility of implementing robust and easy to align phase contrast systems.…”

“…NL is the nonlinear medium filter.The performance of this setup can be understood from different viewpoints. From an image processing point of view[3] if the phase object is weakly illuminated, the Fourier transform of the object does not generate the proper conditions to produce the correct filter on the 1DM. When the illumination is increased more intensity is concentrated on the zero frequency of the Fourier plane.…”