Can Beat Frequencies Affect Light?

[hks85]

I know how beat frequencies work with sound. I know they exist in RF so how do they affect light?

 

[mgb_phys]

The difficulty is that they need a medium to mix in.
Light doesn't interact with light in air or vacuum (at sensible power levels)

A radio uses beat frequencies to mix the received signal with a carrier in a diode, I can't think of a similair substance for light.

 

[Andy Resnick]

I think it can be done optically using a master oscillator, as a way to stabilize a resonant cavity. Not sure about the equipment- a photodiode of some sort, most likely.

 

[Claude Bile]

You can generate difference (beat) frequencies by mixing optical signals in a second-order nonlinear medium.

Claude.