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We show that resonance fluorescence, i.e., the resonant emission of a coherently driven two-level system, can be realized with a semiconductor quantum dot. The dot is embedded in a planar optical microcavity and excited in a waveguide mode so as to discriminate its emission from residual laser scattering. The transition from the weak to the strong excitation regime is characterized by the emergence of oscillations in the first-order correlation function of the fluorescence, g(tau), as measured by interferometry. The measurements correspond to a Mollow triplet with a Rabi splitting of up to 13.3 microeV. Second-order correlation measurements further confirm nonclassical light emission.

We have investigated both theoretically and experimentally the power threshold of discrete Kerr surface solitons at the interface between a discrete one-dimensional (1D) (waveguide array) and a continuous 1D (slab waveguide) AlGaAs medium. Decreasing power thresholds were predicted and measured for soliton trapping at sites with increasing distance from the boundary. The thresholds approached asymptotically the power required for a discrete soliton of equivalent width in an infinite lattice. The minimum threshold coincided with a minimum in the interchannel coupling strength.

GaAs spacer thicknesses are varied to tune the coupling between InGaAs surface quantum dots (QDs) and multilayers of buried QDs. Temperature and excitation intensity dependence of the photoluminescence together with time resolved photoluminescence reveal that coupling between layers of QDs and consequently the optical properties of both the surface and the buried QDs significantly depend on the GaAs spacer. This work provides an experimental method to tune and control the optical performance of surface QDs.

We present a study on the formation of In droplets on GaAs(100) substrates as functions of substrate temperature and monolayer (ML) deposition by using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). We specifically reveal the change in critical thickness of In deposition to form In droplets at different substrate temperatures. At a relatively high substrate temperature, the critical thickness of In droplets becomes relatively thinner as the amount of As atoms on the surface decreases. The control of the size and density of In droplets is also systematically discussed. This study provides an aid in understanding the formation of In droplets and thus can find applications in the formation of quantum structures and/or nanostructures based on droplet epitaxy.

A method to probe the guiding characteristics of waveguides formed in real-time is proposed and evaluated. It is based on the analysis of the time dependent light distribution observed at the exit face of the waveguide while progressively altering its index profile and probed by a large diameter optical beam. A beam propagation method is used to model the observed dynamics. The technique is applied to retrieve the properties of soliton-induced waveguides.

The electric-field-induced evolution of the recently discovered periodic 180 degree nanostripe domain structure is predicted in epitaxial Pb(Zr0.5Ti0.5)O3 ultrathin films from first principles. This evolution involves (1) the lateral growth of majority dipole domains at the expense of minority domains with the overall stripe periodicity remaining unchanged, (2) the creation of surface-avoiding nanobubbles, and (3) the formation of a single monodomain state. Analogies and differences (i) with ferroelectric thin films made of BaTiO3 and (ii) with ferromagnetic thin films under magnetic field are discussed.

Anisotropic surface diffusion and strain are used to explain the formation of three-dimensional (In,Ga)As quantum dot lattices. The diffusion characteristics of the surface, coupled with the elastic anisotropy of the matrix, provides an excellent opportunity to influence the dot positions. In particular, quantum dots that are laterally organized into long chains or chessboard two-dimensional arrays vertically organized with strict vertical ordering or vertical ordering that is inclined to the sample surface normal are accurately predicted and observed.

We report the first observation of discrete optical surface solitons at the interface between a nonlinear self-focusing waveguide lattice and a continuous medium. The effect of power on the localization process of these optical self-trapped states at the edge of an AlGaAs waveguide array is investigated in detail. Our experimental results are in good agreement with theoretical predictions.

We have observed the incoherent interaction between a highly confined (blocker) soliton and wide, moving signal beams of a different wavelength in a one-dimensional discrete Kerr medium. Digital switching of the blocker solitons to successive adjacent channels was measured with increasing signal power via both one and two cascaded interactions in an AlGaAs waveguide array, operations equivalent to a reconfigurable three-output router.

Photoluminescence intermittency, or "blinking", was observed in semiconductor InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) inside a planar microcavity. Most of the blinking QDs were found around defect sites such as dislocation lines naturally formed in the GaAs barrier layers, and the carrier traps responsible for blinking had an excitation threshold of approximately 1.53 eV. The blinking properties of epitaxial QDs and colloidal nanocrystal QDs were also compared by performing laser intensity dependent measurements and statistics of the "on" and "off" time distributions.

We investigate experimentally and numerically the interaction of a highly localized, single-channel discrete soliton (blocker) with a wide, tilted beam in a one-dimensional AlGaAs array. In agreement with theory the blocker is observed to discretely shift its position by multiple channels, depending on the intensity and relative phase of the tilted beam.

The interaction between parallel beams in one-dimensional discrete Kerr systems has been investigated using arrays of coupled channel waveguides. The experiments were performed in AlGaAs waveguides at 1550 nm which corresponds to photon energies just below one half the semiconductor's bandgap. The input intensity and relative input phase between the input beams was varied and the output intensity patterns were recorded. Observed was behavior ranging from a linear response, to soliton interactions between moderately and then strongly localized spatial solitons. Finally the influence of multiphoton absorption and asymmetric beam inputs on these interactions was investigated at very high intensities.

We report the first experimental observation of modulation instability in a discrete optical nonlinear array.

We present a theory of self-focusing and solitons in photorefractive InP, including the previously unexplained intensity resonance and the resonant enhancement of the space-charge field.

We show how to transform multiple real-time photorefractive solitons into permanent two-dimensional single-mode waveguides impressed into the crystalline lattice of the host material. We experimentally demonstrate two specific configurations of such fixed multiple waveguides: directional couplers and multiple beam splitters.

A frequency chirped continuous wave laser beam incident upon a resonant, two-level atomic absorber is seen to evolve into a Jacobi elliptic pulse-train solution to the Maxwell-Bloch equations. Experimental pulse-train envelopes are found in good agreement with numerical and analytical predictions.

Three-dimensional (3D) color holograms are recorded in a cerium-doped, strontium barium niobate (SBN:60) photorefractive crystal. These holograms are shown to reconstruct true color reproductions of the original object with an observable field of view of 37 degrees. Angle multiplexing of two or more 3D color holograms is also demonstrated with angle tuning of the reference beam corresponding to a separation angle between stored images of 0.082 degrees. Each of these results is compared with corresponding theoretical predictions.

We report the formation of permanent two-dimensional 12-microm waveguides in a bulk strontium barium niobate crystal. The waveguides are made by formation of a photorefractive spatial soliton in which the space-charge field induces ferroelectric domains that are permanently polarized opposite to the crystal c axis. The fixed waveguide propagates light with 80% efficiency. These results make possible the permanent recording of intricate optical circuitry in the volume of a bulk crystal.

We report the observation of high-intensity solitons in a bulk strontium barium niobate crystal. The solitons are observed by use of 8-ns optical pulses with optical intensities greater than 100 MW/cm(2). Each soliton forms and attains its minimum width after roughly ten pulses and reaches e(-1) of the steady-state width after the first pulse. We find good agreement between experimental observations and theoretical predictions for the soliton existence curve.

We present experimental evidence demonstrating that the photorefractive-index change responsible for the formation of photorefractive spatial screening solitons and coherent collisions between them is primarily isotropic in nature, even though the photorefractive medium is inherently anisotropic.

We present an experimental study of coherent collisions between one-dimensional bright photorefractive screening solitons in a bulk strontium barium niobate crystal.

We demonstrate what we believe to be the first experimental observation of self-trapping and self-deflection of a planar optical beam by the photorefractive effect in a semiconductor. The semiconductor material is indium phosphide doped with iron. We show that the observed focusing and defocusing effects follow the component of the two-wave-mixing space charge field that is in phase with the intensity pattern, whereas the spatial beam deflection effects follow the 90 degrees -shifted component.

We report what we believe is the first experimental observation of bright-soliton-induced two-dimensional waveguides. The waveguides are induced by two-dimensional photorefractive screening solitons, and their guiding properties, i.e., whether the waveguides are single mode or multimode, are controlled by adjustment of the soliton parameters.

We study experimentally steady-state photorefractive screening solitons trapped in both transverse dimensionsand measure their beam profiles as they propagate throughout the crystal. The solitons are observed to be axially symmetric, and they self-bend. We characterize the soliton dependence on the optical intensity, appliedelectric-field strength, and beam diameter.

Cross talk is observed during the transient time of the photorefractive grating formation in a mutually pumped phase conjugator. We show that this feature can be used to transfer pictorial information from one location to another. The transfer is instantaneous and is demonstrated at a resolution of 6 lines/mm.

Phase-conjugate images with a resolution greater than 250 lines/mm are obtained through the use of a bridge, double-pumped phase conjugator. We demonstrate that this conjugator can carry out imageprocessing tasks, such as the addition and subtraction of complex spatial distributions, with a spatial resolution of >100 lines/mm. These results represent a significant improvement over previously reported resolutions obtained from photorefractive mutually pumped phase conjugators and approach the theoretical limit imposed by the grating spacing and cross talk.

We show that a quasi-steady-state photorefractive spatial soliton forms a waveguide structure in the bulk of a photorefractive material. Although the optically induced waveguide is formed by a very low-power (microwatts) soliton beam, it can guide a powerful (watt) beam of a longer wavelength at which the medium is nonphotosensitive. Furthermore, the waveguide survives, either in the dark or when guiding the longerwavelength beam, for a long time after the soliton beam is turned off. We take advantage of the solitons' property of evolution from a relatively broad input beam into a narrow channel and show that the soliton induces a tapered waveguide (an optical funnel) that improves the coupling efficiency of light into the waveguiding structure.

We present a theoretical analysis of the stability of photorefractive spatial solitons along with experimental results that show that the solitons are stable for small-scale perturbations but break down when the perturbations exhibit a transverse scale comparable with the soliton size (cross section).

We study experimentally self-trapping of optical beams in photorefractive media and show that the trapping is inherently asymmetric with respect to the two (transverse) trapping dimensions. We also present experimental results that show how the sizes of the resultant photorefractive spatial solitons are independent (within their range of existence) of the amplitude of the externally applied electric field used to generate them.

Cross talk is observed in a photorefractive bridge mutually pumped phase conjugator during the transient time of photorefractive grating formation and is utilized to construct a moving-object correlator. The correlation of various input images has been demonstrated and compared with calculated results. The device is currently capable of a resolution of approximately 4 to 6 lines/mm.

Experimental observations are reported which demonstrate that the response time for beam fanning, self-pumped phase conjugation, and double phase conjugation can be shortened by more than an order of magnitude without a significant reduction in coupling strength by using a cyclindrical lens to focus incident laser light into a photorefractive crystal. These results are compared with those obtained using a spherical lens where a reduction in the photorefractive response time is accompanied by a corresponding reduction in coupling strength. It is shown that the fidelity of a phase conjugate beam is not degraded when cylindrical optics are used.

Significant increases (x10) in both speed and gain of the beam fanning process were obtained via three different methods in SBN and BSKNN. These methods involve the creation of a dc electric field either (1) externally, (2) by the pyroelectric effect, or (3) by thermally cycling the crystal and the presence of laser radiation. The enhanced effects were observed for both ordinary and extraordinary polarized light.

In this paper we report a new method for double phase conjugation particularly suited to the tungsten bronze crystal strontium barium niobate. It has also been observed to produce conjugate waves in BaTiO(3) and BSKNN. This new arrangement is called the bridge conjugator because the two beams enter opposing [100] crystal faces and fan together to form a bridge without reflection off a crystal face. Our measurements indicate that the bridge conjugator is competitive with previously reported double phase conjugate mirrors in reflectivity, response time, ease of alignment, and fidelity.

We report the observation of self-pumped phase conjugation by means of internal reflection in a photorefractive medium produced by a series of intense nanosecond pulses. Nanosecond pulses from a YAG laser ranging in intensity from 9 x 10(4) to 9 x 10(5) W/cm(2) were used. The crystal was rhodium-doped strontium barium niobate. The conjugate signal began with the first pulse, and the time to reach 63% of its equilibrium value scaled as I(-2). The equilibrium reflectivity was 29%. A similar cw experiment with the 514-nm line of an argon laser produced a response time that scaled as I(-1.1).

We report the observation of bistability in a BaTiO(3) total internal reflection phase conjugator. The system makes use of the position of the crystal relative to the input field as the dynamic variable. Switching behavior, induced by intensity changes at the input, is also reported.

Self-pumping in cerium-doped strontium barium niobate has been observed with phase-conjugate reflectivities near 6% and a formation time of 8 sec for a 200-mW/cm(2)beam at 442 nm. The time response for asymmetrical self-defocusing was also measured, and the observed transmissions through the crystal at normal incidence were limited to about 1.5% of the incident radiation.

The effect of temporal coherence on the phenomena of self-oscillation in photorefractive materials is analyzed using multilongitudinal-mode argon-ion and helium-neon lasers. Observations demonstrate that self-oscillation is possible when the mirror-crystal separation is large compared to the laser coherence length. The observations are shown to agree with predictions based on the recurrence in the temporal coherence of a multilongitudinal-mode laser.

Self-pumping has been observed in a cerium-doped Ba(2-x)Sr(x)K(1-y)Na(y)Nb(5)O(15) (BSKNN) crystal at four argonion laser wavelengths. Phase-conjugate reflectivities as high as 30% were measured with response times inversely proportional to the 0.5 power of the input intensity. The response time for beam fanning in the crystal was determined to be inversely proportional to the 0.82 power of the input intensity.