Dielectric confinement and the linear and nonlinear optical properties of semiconductor-doped glasses

The implications of dielectric confinement on the linear and nonlinear optical properties of semiconductor-doped glasses in the resonant regime are considered. First the case of a single resonance is considered and using the nonlocal approach to the local field effect, it is shown that the problem of self-reaction must be properly taken into account. This modifies the predictions regarding intrinsic optical bistability. Then the case of two neighboring transitions is considered and concentrated is on the Kerr nonlinearity choosing CdSe as a prototype. The main effect of the local field correction is to reduce the values of the absorption coefficient and of the Kerr susceptibility. A minor effect totally due to the contribution of the first electronic transitions is to slightly modify the corresponding spectra.