SPECTRUM OF 2ND-HARMONIC GENERATION FOR MULTIMODE FIELDS

We calculate the spectrum of second-harmonic generation (SHG) for multimode input fields. We show that SHG cannot be described as the degenerate limit of sum-frequency generation (SFG) for multimode fields, because the dynamical equations describing SFG do not properly account for this degeneracy. We consider SHG for amplitude-modulated as well as frequency-modulated fundamental fields. The bandwidth of the second harmonic generated from an amplitude-modulated fundamental field depends on the fundamental input intensity and the conversion strength of the nonlinear medium. Additional frequencies that are not contained in the set of frequencies 1i+1j will be created at intermediate conversion strengths. However, the growth of the spectral bandwidth is much less pronounced than in SFG. For very high conversion, the spectrum of the second harmonic narrows with increased conversion strength. For frequency-modulated input fields, the second-harmonic spectrum is independent of both the fundamental input intensity and the conversion strength. © 1990 The American Physical Society.