Continuous-wave self-diffraction in dye-doped glasses

We study self-diffraction of cw Ar laser radiation from thin films of boric acid glass doped with Rhodamine 6G. The observed intensity dependence of the diffraction efficiency in various orders of diffraction is interpreted in terms of a recently proposed nonperturbative theory [ J. Opt. Soc. Am. B4, 1309– 1315 ( 1987)]. The order of the nonlinear polarization that contributes to a particular diffraction order is identified. In addition, the angular dependence of the diffraction efficiency is described. The relevance to the present case of the parameters normally used to demarcate the Raman–Nath and Bragg regimes of diffraction is discussed.