Control of free space propagation of Airy beams generated by quadratic nonlinear photonic crystals

We present experimentally the control of free space propagation of an Airy beam. This beam is generated by a nonlinear wave mixing process in an asymmetrically poled nonlinear photonic crystal. Changing the quasi-phase matching conditions, e.g., the crystal temperature or pump wavelength, alters the location of the Airy beam peak intensity along the same curved trajectory. We explain that the variation in the beam shape is caused by noncollinear interactions. Owing to the highly asymmetric shape of nonlinear crystal in the Fourier space, these noncollinear interactions are still relatively efficient for positive nonzero phase mismatch. © 2009 American Institute of Physics. doi:10.1063/1.3266066