Phase-conjugate waves generated by anisotropic four-wave mixing in LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 optical waveguides

Abstract

We report on anisotropic four-wave mixing in planar optical LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 waveguides fabricated by indiffusion of titanium and iron layers. The generation of phase-conjugate waves in the waveguides is demonstrated, and the experimental results are compared to numerical solutions of the corresponding system of coupled wave equations. We observe a different behaviour of the phase-conjugate wave power on pump power in LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 waveguides, respectively. while the reflectivity of the signal beam saturates in LiTaO3 for strong pump beams, there is a distinct increase in LiNbO3.