We predict and investigate ultrafast optical phase conjugation generated by
the spatiospectral mixing of two picosecond light pulses in the active are
a of a broad-area laser. The microscopic internal processes linked to these
phenomena are described on the basis of multiwave Maxwell-Bloch equations
and include, in particular, the dynamic interactions of the counterpropagat
ing light fields self-consistently with the dynamics of the active nonlinea
r charge-carrier plasma within the laser amplifier. Microscopic simulations
demonstrate the spatiotemporal dynamics of the fields and reveal the under
lying physical processes of the ultrafast refractive-index grating formatio
n: dynamic spatiospectral hole burning, carrier heating, and coupled diffra
ction and interference of the light beams by means of the nonlinear induced
changes in the spatiospectral carrier and refractive-index distribution. (
C) 2001 Optical Society of America.