2ND-HARMONIC SPECULAR AND SCATTERED GENERATED LIGHT - APPLICATION TO THE EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY OF ZINC-SULFIDE THIN-FILMS

We present measurements of second-harmonic generation with zinc-sulfid e thin films. Both scattered light and specular light are investigated in linear optics as well as in second-harmonic generation. We show th at second-harmonic generation is a powerful tool for understanding the nonlinear properties of thin films; it allows the study of the anisot ropy found in the scattered and specular second harmonic. Using the sy mmetry of susceptibility tensors, we show that the films cannot be con sidered homogeneous when the crystallites are large. Finally, we outli ne nonlinear scattering measurements, which bring out the usefulness o f second-harmonic light in probing the structure of thin films. (C) 19 97 Optical Society of America.