Dualism between optical and difference parametric amplification

Abstract

Breaking the symmetry in a coupled wave system can result in unusual amplification behavior. In the case of difference parametric amplification the resonant pump frequency is equal to the difference, instead of the sum, frequency of the normal modes. We show that sign reversal in the symmetry relation of parametric coupling give rise to difference parametric amplification as a dual of optical parametric amplification. For optical systems, our result can potentially be used for efficient XUV amplification.