POLARIZATION-SENSITIVE SPECTROSCOPY OF POLARIZATION-INHOMOGENEOUS MOLECULAR MEDIA

Consistent theoretical studies of polarization-sensitive spectroscopy (PSS) of polarization-inhomogeneous media (PIM) (initially isotropic m aterials) with collinear arbitrary polarized (partially or totally dep olarized) interacting beams (pump-probe scheme) are presented within t he framework of third-order nonlinear susceptibility, The analysis is based on the 4 x 4 Mueller matrix-Stokes vector formalism, Some genera lizations have been made over known approaches: the inclusion of an el liptically polarized pump beam, and the treatment of the observed PSS signal taking into account second-order effects in the pump beam inten sity and realistic linear depletion of the interacting waves. In the l ight of new results obtained, several practical cases are considered. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.