Nondegenerate two-wave mixing in ruby

Abstract

We demonstrate energy exchange by nondegenerate two-wave mixing in ruby. Our results are in agreement with the theory of nondegenerate two-wave mixing when the theory is generalized to take into account a complex nonlinear index. Two-wave mixing gain exceeding the absorption and reflection losses is demonstrated, and we show that these experiments provide a simple and accurate method for determining the complex nonlinear index, response time, and saturation intensity of the medium.