Coherence synthesis in nonlinear optics

Zihao Pang; Ady Arie

doi:10.1038/s41377-025-01749-6

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Coherence synthesis in nonlinear optics

Original Articles

- Coherence synthesis in nonlinear optics
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 14, Issue 4, Pages: 1030-1040(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  School of Electrical Engineering, Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
- Author bio：
  
  Zihao Pang (its.zihaopang@gmail.com)
  Ady Arie (ady@tauex.tau.ac.il)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-01749-6
  CLC：
- Received：03 September 2024，
  
  Revised：26 December 2024，
  
  Accepted：2025-01-06，
  
  Published Online：26 February 2025，
  
  Published：30 April 2025
- Accepted：
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Pang, Z. H. & Arie, A. Coherence synthesis in nonlinear optics. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 1030-1040 (2025).
DOI：

Pang, Z. H. & Arie, A. Coherence synthesis in nonlinear optics. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 1030-1040 (2025). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-01749-6.

摘要

Abstract

It is commonly assumed that nonlinear frequency conversion requires lasers with high coherence; however

this assumption has constrained our broader understanding of coherence and overlooked the potential role of incoherence in nonlinear interactions. In this work

we study the synthesis of optical spatial coherence in second harmonic generation using quadratic nonlinear photonic crystals. We demonstrate a method where the second harmonic coherence is customized by employing quantitative phase retrieval and a complex square-root filter sequentially on fundamental frequency speckles. As a proof-of-concept

we experimentally show incoherent imaging of a smiley face transitioning from infrared to visible light. Moreover

we apply this method to produce two representative types of structured light beams in second harmonic generation: incoherent vortex and Airy beams. During the nonlinear synthesis of incoherent vortex beams

we have

for the first time

experimentally verified the conservation of orbital angular momentum in the nonlinear frequency conversion process of a low-coherence source. Furthermore

the generated second-harmonic incoherent Airy beam preserves the self-acceleration characteristics of its fundamental frequency counterpart

remaining unaffected by reductions in coherence. Our results not only deepen the fundamental understanding of optical coherence but also unlock exciting possibilities for applications in infrared imaging and fluorescence microscopy where optical nonlinear interactions play an important role.

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Keywords

references

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