Switching the acceleration direction of Airy beams by a nonlinear optical process

We present experimental control of the acceleration direction of Airy beams generated by nonlinear three-wave mixing processes in an asymmetrically poled nonlinear photonic crystal. Changing the crystal temperature enabled us to switch the phase matching condition between second-harmonic generation and difference-frequency generation in the same nonlinear crystal and thereby to change the acceleration direction and the wavelength of the output Airy beam. All-optical control of the acceleration direction can be also realized at a fixed crystal temperature by using a tunable pump source and selecting the proper crystal poling period. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America