We report the first known observation of amplified reflection through degenerate four-wave mixing at 10.6 microm. Reflectivities of over 100% are reported in both n-type and p-type germanium at pump intensities of about 100 MW/cm(2). The maximum reflectivity reported is 800% in p-type Ge.
We present the results of degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) studies in three samples of p-type Ge with a wide range of absorptive properties. Three mechanisms for DFWM are observed in this material. A model, which includes the mechanisms of the inhomogeneously broadened saturable absorption of p-type Ge and the optical Kerr effect that is due to bound electrons in Ge but not the mechanism of bulk plasma formation that occurs only at extremely high pump intensities, is developed and compared with the experimental results. Pump-beam attenuation by the medium is shown to be an important effect in modeling DFWM. The model, which has no free parameters, fits the experimental data well for samples with small-signal transmission of greater than 20%.
Phase conjugation by degenerate four-wave mixing in the 4-microm region in germanium has been observed for both single-line and multiline radiation. By using single-line output of a DF laser at 3.8 microm, X3 has been measured to be 4 X 10(-1) esu. Phase conjugation of multiline laser output has been achieved with an efficiency of 0.03%, a level that is consistent with the susceptibility found for single-line phase conjugation and the assumption of independent conjugation of each line of the multiline output.
A transient model of degenerate four-wave mixing in saturable amplifiers is developed for calculation of the phase-conjugate reflectivity in the weak-probe-beam limit. Our model takes into account the laser amplification of all the interacting beams together with the wave-mixing process between the two counterpropagating pump waves. Experimental investigations are made in a flash-lamp-pumped Nd:YAG amplifier with nanosecond pulses at 1.06 microm. A reflectivity of 22% is achieved when all the waves interfere within the laser medium.