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Published February 1, 1982 | public
Journal Article Open

Coupled-mode analysis of light propagation in optically active crystals

Abstract

A new mathematical formalism, based on a coupled-mode approach, is presented to describe light propagation in birefringent optically active crystals. An arbitrary light wave in the medium is represented as an expansion in terms of linearly polarized eigenmodes; explicit solutions of the equations for the coupled-wave amplitudes show how power is transferred between the principal components in the presence of optical activity. The (generally elliptically polarized) eigenmodes of the optically active crystal are also derived by a diagonalization of the coupled-mode equations. The analysis is extended to include electro-optic crystals, yielding a more general, complex coupling parameter. The predictions of the theory are in excellent agreement with spectral-transmission measurements in AgGaS2 near its isoindex point at 497 nm.

Additional Information

© Copyright 1982 Optical Society of America. Received August 3, 1981. The technical assistance of D.P. Devor, J.G. Johnston, R.R. Stephens, and C.M. Walker is gratefully acknowledged. This research was supported in part by the U.S. Office of Naval Research.

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August 22, 2023
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