Conductively cooled liquid thermal nonlinearity cell for phase conjugation and method

Abstract

A thermal nonlinear cell and method. The cell includes a substantially planar nonlinear medium and a mechanism for removing thermal energy from the medium in a direction substantially orthogonal to said medium. In one embodiment, the mechanism for removing thermal energy is a thermally conductive window mounted adjacent to the medium. Preferably, the mechanism includes plural thermally conductive windows between which the nonlinear medium is disposed. In the best mode, the windows are sapphire and the nonlinear medium is a fluid. The windows and the medium are transmissive with respect to first and second beams that interfere with each other and create an interference pattern in the cell. The interference pattern is sampled by a sampling hologram created within the multiple layers of the medium. The interference pattern is used via a sampling hologram to create a phase conjugate of a signal beam. The windows move thermal energy from the medium in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the medium. This energy is then removed by heat sinks disposed at the ends of the stack of windows. In an alternative embodiment, the mechanism for removing thermal energy includes first and second mirrors mounted adjacent to the medium in a substantially parallel face-to-face relation. Preferably, the mirrors are heat exchangers such as slot-jet impingement coolers. In this embodiment, a transparent window is disposed between the mirrors and the nonlinear medium is disposed between the mirrors and the window. The mirrors are adapted to reflect first and second beams into the medium where they interfere to provide the interference pattern needed to create a phase conjugate beam.