Actively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser using an electro-optic periodically poled lithium niobate crystal as a laser Q-switch

We demonstrate a low-voltage and fast laser Q-switching by using an electro-optic periodically poled lithium niobate (EO PPLN) crystal. The half-wave voltage measured from the EO PPLN crystal was 0.36 V x d (microm)/L (cm), where d is the electrode separation and L is the electrode length. When a 13-mm-long EO PPLN was used as a laser Q switch at 7-kHz switching rate, we measured an approximately 12-ns pulse width and approximately 0.74-kW laser pulses at 1064-nm wavelength from a diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser with continuous 1.2-W pump power at 809-nm wavelength.     

Internal Q-switching and self-optical parametric oscillation in a two-dimensional periodically poled Nd:MgO:LiNbO3 laser

We report on an internally Q-switched self-optical parametric oscillator (SOPO) based on a monolithic two-dimensional (2D) periodically poled Nd:MgO:LiNbO(3) (Nd:MgO:PPLN) integrating three device functionalities of a laser gain medium, an electro-optic Bragg Q-switch, and an optical parametric gain medium (OPGM). The quasi-phase-matching conditions required by the Bragg Q-switch and OPGM are both satisfied in the 2D nonlinear photonic crystal (NPC) structure formed in the Nd:MgO:PPLN. A 1525 nm signal with a pulse energy of ～3.3 μJ (>350 W peak power) was obtained from the SOPO at 8.5 W diode pump power. An off-angle signal at 1612 nm, amplified by a unique gain-enhancement effect in this 2D NPC, was also observed. Tuning of the SOPO in the eye-safe region was demonstrated.     

Self-optical parametric oscillation in periodically poled neodymium-doped lithium niobate

Self-optical parametric oscillation is demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge in a periodically poled neodymium-doped lithium niobate (Nd:PPLN) crystal. The crystal is pumped by a cw Ti:sapphire laser at 813.5 nm. The Nd(3+) ions absorb the 813.5-nm radiation to generate 1084-nm laser oscillation. The internally Q switched 1084-nm radiation pumps the periodically poled lithium niobate host matrix to generate optical parametric oscillation at 1.55 and 3.6 microm . Up to 24% conversion efficiency from laser to signal is observed.     

Monolithic quasi-phase-matched nonlinear crystal for simultaneous laser Q switching and parametric oscillation in a Nd:YVO4 laser

We report the performance of a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal inside a diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser for simultaneous laser Q switching and optical parametric oscillation. The monolithic PPLN crystal consists of two sections, a 1-cm-long 14-microm-period electrode-coated section and a 4-cm-long 30-microm-period section, functioning as a low-voltage Pockels cell and a quasi-phase-matched parametric gain medium, respectively. At a 150-V Q-switching voltage and a 6-kHz switching rate, we measured 25-microJ pulse energy and 4-kW peak power at 1.55 microm with 9-W absorbed diode power.     

波长可调谐的瓦级连续橙红光激光器

介绍了基于复合腔结构的全固态波长可调谐的连续橙红色激光的输出特性。该复合腔由一个使用周期极化晶体MgO:PPLN的信号光单谐振光参量振荡器和一个LD侧面泵浦Nd:GdVO₄晶体的1 062.9 nm基频光谐振腔构成。s-偏振1 062.9 nm泵浦光抽运单谐振光参量振荡器产生s-偏振信号光腔内独立振荡。通过复合腔结构的优化设计,使独立振荡的p-偏振1 062.9 nm基频光与s-偏振信号光在2个子腔的重叠区内通过Ⅱ类角度匹配KTP晶体的腔内和频过程获得橙红色激光。当MgO:PPLN晶体的调谐温度从30 ℃上升至200 ℃时,s-偏振信号光的中心波长产生红移,导致其与p-偏振1 062.9 nm基频光和频产生的橙红色激光的中心波长从620.2 nm红移至628.9 nm。同时测得中红外波段闲频光的中心波长从3 714.2 nm蓝移至3 438.3 nm。在30 ℃最低设定温度时, 中心波长620.2 nm的橙红色激光和中心波长3 714.2 nm的闲频光最大连续输出功率分别达到2.0 W和2.9 W。     

半导体激光直接倍频的488nm蓝光激光器

利用波导型准相位匹配周期极化反转铌酸锂(PPLN)晶体直接倍频波长为976 nm的连续半导体激光二极管,在最佳晶体工作温度(28℃)下,获得了波长为488 nm的连续蓝光输出,最大输出功率大于20 mW。所用的晶体尺寸为8 mm×1.4 mm×1 mm,波导截面为4.5μm×3.5μm,极化周期为5.2μm。研究了波导型周期极化反转铌酸锂晶体的倍频效率与温度的关系,与普通的周期极化反转铌酸锂相比,倍频效率与温度关系的敏感度较低。同时,由于晶体可以在室温下工作,简化了加温与温控部件,提高了整机的工作效率。在此实验的基础上,制成了一台小型的全固态488 nm连续蓝光激光器。     

1560 nm连续光半导体激光器经PPLN倍频及经铷吸收光谱稳频

将激光器锁定到合适的参考频率上,可以有效地改变激光器的频率稳定性。1560 nm的分布反馈式半导体激光器,可以通过倍频锁定于铷原子吸收线上。实验中我们利用PPLN准位相匹配晶体进行倍频,当输入光为1.6 W时可以获得25 mW的倍频光,非线性转换系数为0.96%/W。我们还将激光器的频率锁定于Rb原子的吸收线上,30 s内剩余频率起伏约为±3.5 MHz。     

Fiber-laser-based femtosecond parametric generator in bulk periodically poled LiNbO(3)

A diode-pumped system for optical parametric generation of wavelength-tunable femtosecond pulses is demonstrated. It comprises an Er-doped fiber mode-locked laser, a fiber chirped-pulse amplifier, and a bulk periodically poled LiNbO(3) (PPLN) optical parametric generator. The parametric generator is pumped at 777 nm with frequency-doubled microjoule pulses from the fiber amplifier and produces 300-fs pulses tunable from 1 to 3microm with output energies up to ~200 nJ. Use of a PPLN nonlinear crystal substantially reduces the pump energies required for efficient parametric generation. Saturated single-pass parametric energy conversion of 38% (internal) has been achieved with only 220 nJ of pump inside the crystal. A parametric generation threshold of 54 nJ is observed, and efficient parametric conversion is obtained with repetition rates up to 200 kHz.     

Online monitoring of ethane traces in exhaled breath with a difference frequency generation spectrometer

We report a transportable mid-infrared laser cavity leak-out spectrometer for online detection of trace gases. The laser spectrometer is based on continuous-wave difference-frequency generation in the wavelength region around 3 μm. Sensitive spectroscopic trace gas monitoring was achieved using a high-finesse ring-down cavity. For difference-frequency generation, we use a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal, pumped by a Nd:YAG laser (signal wave) and a diode laser (pump wave) with a tapered amplifier. A maximum power of 280 μW near λ=3.3 μm is achieved using a pump power of 180 mW at 807 nm, a signal power of 890 mW at 1064.46 nm, and a 50-mm-long PPLN crystal. The resulting system proved to be a unique tool with high sensitivity and specificity for rapid and precise breath testing. We demonstrate spectroscopic online monitoring of ethane traces in exhaled human breath with a precision of 270 parts per trillion (1σ) and a time resolution of 1 s. PACS 42.62.Be; 42.60.-v; 07.57.Ty     

基于中红外DFG光源的甲烷气体光谱检测方法研究

基于中红外光源的气体光谱检测是新的痕量气体监测与分析方法,在大气监测领域具有重要的应用。构建了一套基于中红外DFG光源的甲烷气体光谱检测系统。该系统以1 550 nm和1 060 nm波段可调谐半导体激光器作为基频光源,采用PPLN晶体作为差频非线性变频器件,实现了3.3 μm处的窄线宽可调谐中红外光源输出。实验结果表明,当PPLN晶体工作温度为99.5℃时,闲频光的输出功率为112 μW,差频转换效率达到1.246 mW/W2。晶体的温度接受带宽为4.3℃,泵浦光波长接受带宽为5.3 nm。在此基础上,分别利用直接吸收法和谐波检测法获得了3 028.751 cm-1处的甲烷气体吸收光谱和二次谐波检测信号。     

A compact and high efficiency diode pumped green laser based on MgO doped PPLN

In this work, an efficient intra-cavity second harmonic generation of green laser in a periodically poled MgO doped LiNbO₃ (MgO:PPLN) bulk crystal using a compact Nd:YVO₄ laser as a fundamental laser source is reported. Different length, different working temperature MgO:PPLN crystals are tested and investigated in the SHG experiments. The maximum output power at 532 nm is 6.2 W at the absorbed pump power at 808 nm of 14 W, the optical to optical conversion efficiencies from 808 to 532 nm and 1064 to 532 nm are 43 and 77%, respectively, the instability in 2 hours is less than 5%.     

基于单块周期极化铌酸锂晶体级联三倍频的440 nm蓝光固体激光器

阐述了一种基于单块周期极化铌酸锂晶体级联三倍频实现440 nm蓝光输出的实验方案。根据周期极化铌酸锂晶体的Sellmeier方程以及倍频与和频的相位匹配条件,在一块周期极化铌酸锂晶体上设计了两段不同的极化周期,使其在同一工作温度下能分别实现倍频与和频,在先后经过倍频与和频后,实现级联三倍频输出。实验采用Nd: YAG产生的1319 nm光作为基频光,重频400 Hz,脉宽110 ns,横向和纵向光束质量因子分别为1.81和2.65。耦合进周期极化铌酸锂晶体后,出射光中检测到660 nm的红光和440 nm的蓝光。通过调整工作温度和入射基频光功率,得到2.4 mW的最大蓝光输出,此时工作温度55.5 ℃,基频光功率530 mW。实验结果验证了单块晶体实现级联三倍频440 nm蓝光输出的可行性。     

2.5-W, continuous-wave, 629-nm solid-state laser source

We report an efficient, high-power, cw, 629-nm laser source based on a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser and a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) frequency converter. This device integrates two separate frequency-conversion steps in a single crystal, taking advantage of the ability to fabricate PPLN with nearly arbitrary grating periods and phase-matching temperatures. This device uses a single PPLN crystal that has two grating regions in series. The first region quasi-phase matches a standard optical parametric oscillator process (1064nm?1540nm +3450nm), and the second region quasi-phase matches a sum-frequency process whereby the pump and the signal light make red light (1064nm+1540nm ?629nm). Using a four-mirror ring cavity, we were able to convert 21% of the 1064-nm pump to 629-nm output, yielding 2.5W of red output with 11.8W of input.     

Optical parametric oscillation in periodically poled lithium niobate driven by a diode-pumped Q-switched erbium fiber laser

We describe what is to our knowledge the first nanosecond periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) driven by a fiber laser. The source was frequency doubled by a PPLN sample before pumping a second, 20-mm-long, PPLN crystal. The OPO threshold was <10muJ, with pump depletions of as much as 45% and a tunable signal range of 945-1450 nm (1690-4450-nm idler range). We demonstrated 130-nm signal tuning by varying the pump wavelength and doubling crystal's temperature. Also, we achieved 15-nm tuning with all crystals at a constant temperature. The results demonstrate the potential of the fiber laser:PPLN combination for practical, versatile, and tunable sources.     

Observation of thermal-induced optical guiding and bistability in a mid-IR continuous-wave, singly resonant optical parametric oscillator

We report the observation of thermal-induced optical guiding and bistability in a mid-IR cw, singly resonant optical parametric oscillator (SRO) at approximately 3.2 microm. The SRO employs a MgO:PPLN crystal as the gain medium and a 1-nm-linewidth Yb-fiber laser at 1.064 microm as the pump source. As soon as the pump power reaches the thermal guiding threshold at 16.5 W, the SRO shows a step increase in the parametric efficiency by a factor of 2.5. At 25 W pump power, the SRO generated 5.3 and 1.2 W at 1.58 and 3.23 microm, respectively, with single-longitudinal-mode performance for the 3.23 microm radiation.     

Low-threshold, high-efficiency, high-repetition-rate optical parametric generator based on periodically poled LiNbO3

We report a high-repetition-rate optical parametric generator (OPG) with a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal pumped by an acousto-optically Q-switched CW-diode-end-pumped Nd:YVO_4 laser. For the maximum 1064nm pump power of 970mW, the maximum conversion efficiency is 32.9% under the conditions of 250℃, 1064nm pulse repetition rate of 22.6kHz and pulse width of 12ns, and the PPLN OPG threshold in the collinear case is less than 23.7μJ. The output power increases with the increase of the crystal temperature. The 1485－1553nm signal wave and 3383－3754nm idler wave are obtained by changing the temperature and the angle of the PPLN crystal.     

Period and temperature tuning of cascaded opticalparametric oscillator based on periodically poled LiNbO3

We report the broadly tunable source by a cascaded optical parametric oscillator in the periodically poled LiNbO_3 (PPLN) with domain grating period and temperature tuning. The optical parametric oscillator was pumped by a passive Q-switched Nd:YVO_4 laser. Multi-wavelength outputs from visible to infrared were obtained. The temperature of the PPLN crystal changed within the range of 70－150℃ with different periods of PPLN. The tunable range covered from 433 to 1657nm.     

基于复合腔的波长可调谐连续橙红色激光器

设计并研制了一种基于复合腔结构的波长可调谐、瓦级连续输出的橙红色激光器.该激光器是由半导体激光侧泵Nd∶GdVO_4晶体产生p-偏振1 062.9nm基频光的谐振腔和使用周期性极化晶体MgO∶PPLN(三个极化周期为29.0μm、29.8μm和30.8μm)的单共振光学参量振荡器组成.在两个谐振腔的重叠区域,利用Ⅱ类临界相位匹配KTP晶体对s-偏振信号光与p-偏振1 062.9nm基频光进行腔内和频.通过对MgO∶PPLN晶体进行三个不同极化周期的调谐和30℃~200℃范围内的温度调谐,在三个波段(613.4~619.2nm@29.0μm、620.2~628.9nm@29.8μm和634.4~649.1nm@30.8μm)获得了波长可调谐的橙红色激光连续输出,并在相应波段(3 980.0~3 758.5nm@29.0μm、3 714.2~3 438.3nm@29.8μm和3 278.0~2 940.2nm@30.8μm)获得了波长可调谐的中红外闲频光的连续输出.在30℃最低调谐温度,通过改变晶体的极化周期,在613.4nm、620.2nm和634.4nm处测得最大连续输出功率分别为1.52 W、2.21 W和3.03 W,对应的三束闲频光最大连续输出功率分别为2.36 W@3 980.0nm、3.17 W@3 714.2nm和4.13 W@3 278.0nm.     

Light-enhanced electro-optic spectral tuning in annealed proton-exchanged periodically poled lithium niobate channel waveguides

We report the observation of light-enhanced electro-optic spectral tuning in annealed proton-exchanged, asymmetric domain-duty-cycle periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) channel waveguides for second-harmonic generation. The spectral tuning rate was increased rapidly from 0.07 nm/(kV/mm) to a saturated value of 0.32 nm/(kV/mm) in a 30%/70% domain-duty-cycle PPLN waveguide when the fundamental pump power near 1534 nm was increased from 0.6 to 46 mW. The second-harmonic laser power at 767 nm was identified to be the source enhancing the spectral tuning.