Talk:Optical parametric amplifier

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The article does not clarify the connection between nonlinear optics and parametric amplification, e.g. what type/order of nonlinearity is exploited. Some diagrams would be very helpful to the non-expert. There should be a clearer border between the the physical process and experimental/technical implementations. Nonetheless the article states nice details about what problems can occour in real-world implementations. Dwkdwk 12:51, 6 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Which is the "signal" and which is the "idler"?

The sentence "Light with ordinary and extraordinary polarizations are generated; the ordinary light is called the signal and the extraordinary light is called the idler." is wrong, therefore I have deleted it. --Ahellwig (talk) 18:32, 3 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Personally I've heard two definitions:

The lower-frequency one is the "idler" and the higher-frequency one is the "signal".
The one that is an external input is the "signal" and the other is the "idler".

I'm not sure how common/uncommon each of these is. --Steve (talk) 22:04, 29 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]