Theory of mode hopping and phase conjugation characteristics in degenerate four-wave mixing

A large-signal theory of noncollinear degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) is presented, taking into account the pump depletion and the full nonlinear polarization density appropriate for the noncollinear geometry. Phases of all of the interacting fields, as well as the amplitudes, are obtained as functions of the spatial coordinate. Owing to the completeness of the set of analytic solutions, considerable physical insights into the physics of DFWM are obtained. The DFWM exhibits a variety of rich behaviors, including hysteresis and bistability, multistability, and multiple isolated branches. The authors show that all of these behaviors can be explained in a unified way, that is, in terms of mode hopping characteristics.<>