Nonlinear Optics in Green Tea and Cresyl Violet

该项目使范德比尔特大学能够获得教授光与物质的非线性相互作用的仪器，作为该大学高级光学和激光实验室的一部分。该项目的动机是对现代光学物理技术和概念的重要指导的需求不断增加，无论是在高级实验室还是在独立研究和荣誉项目中。最近的概念验证实验包括研究中国绿茶、甲酚紫染料和离子注入熔融二氧化硅中的非线性激光-物质相互作用。这种以项目为导向的方法使用连续波激光学习非线性光学，为本科生提供了一个从严肃的光学物理中获得乐趣的独特机会，并激励他们及早参与研究。该项目正在提高教学效率，因为非线性激光相互作用是激光和光学科学中许多最富有活力的领域的核心。此外，固体和液体中的非线性光学物理是一个强大而典型的综合研究领域，将实验和理论、光学和凝聚态物理、量子物理和经典物理结合在一起。使用连续波红外和可见光的新的教学活动包括：研究激光束的自聚焦和自捕获，光开关实验，以及固体和液体中的非线性过程的模拟。美国国家科学基金会的赠款资金正在与非联邦来源的资金相匹配。

This project is enabling Vanderbilt University to acquire instrumentation to teach about the nonlinear interactions of light with matter, as part of the University's advanced laboratory in optics and lasers. The project is motivated by increasing demand for significant instruction in the techniques and concepts of modern optical physics, both in the advanced laboratory and in independent study and in honors projects. Recent proof-of-concept experiments have included studies of nonlinear laser-matter interactions in Chinese green tea, cresyl violet dye, and ion-implanted fused silica. This project-oriented approach to nonlinear optics with cw lasers is giving undergraduate students a unique opportunity to have fun with serious optical physics, and motivating them toward early involvement in research.The project is enhancing teaching effectiveness, because nonlinear laser interactions are at the heart of many of the most fertile areas of laser and optical science. Moreover, nonlinear optical physics in solids and liquids is a powerfully and quintessentially integrative field of inquiry, bringing together experiment and theory, optical and condensed-matter physics, quantum and classical physics. The new instructional activities using cw infrared and visible laser light include: studies of self-focusing and self-trapping of laser beams, optical switching experiments, and modeling of nonlinear processes in solids and liquids.NSF grant funds are being matched with funds from non-federal sources.