Simultaneous resolution of second, third and fourth harmonic generation using the full wave vector Maxwell equations

Summary form only given. With pulse duration around a few femtoseconds, numerical methods to study nonlinear optical phenomena have to be developed beyond the slowly varying amplitudes and phase approximations. An elegant solution consists in solving the full Maxwell equations in the time domain. It has been successfully used to study propagation of solitons or self focusing of a laser beam. Here, this method is used for the first time to compute the evolution of second harmonic generation (SHG) in a nonlinear crystal. The method is illustrated considering the propagation of femtosecond pulses through a KDP crystal close to the phase matching angle.