Optical Rectification

Electro-optic rectification (EOR), also referred to as optical rectification, is a non-linear optical process which consists in the generation of a quasi-DC polarization in a non-linear medium at the passage of an intense optical beam. For typical intensities, optical rectification is a second-order phenomenon (difference frequency mixing) which is based on the inverse process of the electro-optic effect. It was reported for the first time in 1962, when radiation from a ruby laser was transmitted through potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) and potassium dideuterium phosphate (KD_dP) crystals.