Non-reciprocal ultrafast laser writing

Yang, Weijia, Kazansky, Peter G. and Svirko, Yuri P. (2008) Non-reciprocal ultrafast laser writing. Nature Photonics, 2 (2), 99-104. (doi:10.1038/nphoton.2007.276).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Photosensitivity is a material property that is relevant to many phenomena and applications, from photosynthesis and photography to optical data storage and ultrafast laser writing. It was commonly thought that, in a homogeneous medium, photosensitivity and the corresponding light-induced material modifications do not change on reversing the direction of light propagation. Here we demonstrate that when the direction of the femtosecond laser beam is reversed from the +z to -z direction, the structures written in LiNbO₃ crystal when translating the beam along the +y and -y directions are mirrored. In a non-centrosymmetric medium, modification of the material can therefore differ for light propagating in opposite directions. This is the first evidence of a new optical phenomenon of non-reciprocal photosensitivity. We interpret this effect in terms of light pressure and associated heat flow, resulting in a temperature gradient in homogeneous media without inversion symmetry under uniform intense irradiation.

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