Two-wave mixing via reflection population gratings

Theoretical analysis of two-wave mixing (TWM) via reflection population grating, aiming to support current experimental investigations of dynamic gratings in Erbium (Er)-doped fibers, is presented. It is shown that for low recording intensities the stationary TWM via reflection saturated absorption gratings is well described in approximation of a spatially uniform grating amplitude. The analysis of the transient TWM is performed both for rectangular and for sinusoidal phase modulation of one of the recording waves and it is shown how the recorded grating amplitude and characteristic recording time can be obtained from the detected signals. It is pointed out that the majority of the existing experimental results on TWM in Er-doped fibers are qualitatively explained within the framework of the developed model.