Nonlinear optics with a diode-laser light source

Abstract

We report results of cw degenerate four-wave mixing experiments on room-temperature GaAs–GaAlAs multiple-quantum-well material using a commercial semiconductor diode laser as the sole light source. With cw powers of ~3 mW and intensities of ~13 W/cm², we observe diffraction efficiencies of ~10⁻⁴, corresponding to an effective nonlinear coefficient of χ³ ~ 6 × 10⁻² esu.