Spatio-temporal characterization of self-formed hollow light pulses in the pump depletion regime of second harmonic generation

Depletion of the pump pulse in second harmonic generation (SHG) and its back-regeneration from the second harmonic pulse is a well known process in nonlinear optics. Nevertheless how the pump pulse reshapes as a three-dimensional object in space and time has never been investigated. In this work we apply a three-dimensional mapping technique to record this transformation and we experimentally show the formation of a hollow as well as more complex layered spatiotemporal structures of the fundamental pump pulse in different regimes. The results are compared with numerical simulations.

Depletion of the pump pulse in second harmonic generation (SHG) and its back-regeneration from the second harmonic pulse is a well known process in nonlinear optics. Nevertheless how the pump pulse reshapes as a three-dimensional object in space and time has never been investigated. In this work we apply a three-dimensional mapping technique to record this transformation and we experimentally show the formation of a hollow as well as more complex layered spatio-temporal structures of the fundamental pump pulse in different regimes. The results are compared with numerical simulations. © 2011 EDP Sciences and Springer.