Engineering competing nonlinearities

Weak modulation of a quasi-phase-matching (QPM) grating opens possibilities for engineering both the average quadratic nonlinearity and the incoherent average cubic nonlinearity induced by QPM. The relative strength of the average quadratic and effective (intrinsic plus induced) cubic nonlinearity is studied for LiNbO3LiNbO3. We show how the induced average cubic nonlinearity can be engineered to dominate the intrinsic material cubic nonlinearity and how doing so will allow the intensity at which the quadratic and cubic nonlinearities balance and thus compete to be decreased to a few gigawatts per square centimeter. © 1999 Optical Society of AmericaPeer Reviewe