Frequency-domain measurement of second harmonic phase

Second harmonic (SH) phase is a potentially informative component of nonlinear optical interface characterization, but is often neglected because traditional SH phase measurement methods are very cumbersome. Frequency domain interferometric second harmonic (FDISH) generation enables rapid, accurate SH phase measurement without moving parts by exploiting the wide bandwidth of ultrashort laser pulses. We illustrate the versatility of FDISH through examples of SH phase measurements from GaAs, quartz and Si interfaces. SH phase variations with azimuthal angle and time, and amongst the three tensor components of the nonlinear susceptibility chi((2)) of a Si(001)-dielectric interface, are measured. (c) 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.