Abstract

Light-induced change in the index of refraction of a Kerr medium is well known.¹ Illumination with a spatially periodic light intensity leads to the formation of an index grating in the Kerr medium. We make a comparative study of the response time and power requirement for index grating formation in photorefractive and Kerr media. We examine the conditions in which the index grating in the Kerr medium will be spatially shifted from the light intensity that induces it. Two-beam coupling via Bragg diffraction from the nonlocal index grating is studied.² The coupling constant is found to depend on the relaxation mechanism of the atoms in the Kerr media and the frequency detunings of the two beams from the line center.

© 1988 Optical Society of America