Calibration of the second-order nonlinear optical susceptibility of surface and bulk of glass

A two-beam second-harmonic generation technique is developed to calibrate the magnitude of the second-order nonlinear optical susceptibility components of surface and bulk ( multipolar origin) of isotropic materials. The values obtained for fused silica calibrated against chi(XXX) of crystalline quartz are. chi(parallel to parallel to perpendicular to) = 7.9( 4), chi(parallel to parallel to perpendicular to) + gamma = 3.8( 4), chi(parallel to parallel to perpendicular to) + gamma = 59( 4), and delta' = 7.8( 4) in units of 10(-22) m(2)/V. Similar values are obtained for BK7 glass. An alternative way of calibration against chi(XYZ) of quartz is demonstrated. The technique could also be extended to characterize the susceptibility tensor of crystals as a convenient alternative to the Maker-fringe technique. (c) 2008 Optical Society of America.