Nontechnical Description Nonlinear optical wave mixing processes are a key component of modern optical diverse technologies in fields such as communication, health, and environmental sensing. However, wave mixing processes in nonlinear optics present significant challenges, among them the vanishingly small magnitude of the nonlinear susceptibility of most materials, the consequent high pump power densities required, and phase matching. The pursuit of phase matching has shaped the development of nonlinear optics as a field. Most strategies to achieve it rely on the natural birefringence of most materials; however, the certain materials and nonlinear processes cannot use birefringent phase matching schemes. In these cases, quasi-phase matching (QPM) is required. QPM, in particular as achieved through periodic poling (PP) of nonlinear media, is a crucial technique today for a broad swath of technologies relying on nonlinear optics. This is especially true in quantum optics, where PP is used to create sources of entangled photons for use in quantum computing, networking, and sensing. However, PP is an intensive, fickle, and extreme process, and moreover many nonlinear materials of interest are not ferroelectric and cannot undergo PP. Alternatives to PP are thus highly desirable, particularly schemes in which light could possibly facilitate its own QPM. This project will investigate such “self”-QPM schemes which are expected to offer enhanced nonlinear interactions for laser tech