Up-conversion of subpicosecond light pulses

Harmonic generation and frequency mixing in nonlinear media pumped by subpicosecond pulses are studied. The propagation and interaction of subpicosecond pulses in a dispersive medium is influenced by group velocity "walk through" and spreading of the light pulses. The amplitude and spectrum of theNth harmonic are calculated taking into account both the group velocity and group velocity dispersion. Conditions for group velocity matching in crystals and mixtures of metal vapors and gases are considered, together with their relation to the phase velocity matching. An example of using four-wave mixing to generate ultrashort pulses with tunable duration over a wide range by proper group velocity matching is discussed.