Mid-infrared pulse generation using a sub-picosecond OPO

We describe a synchronously pumped LBO parametric oscillator pumped by a cw mode-locked Ti:Sapphire laser. We demonstrate the synchronization between the pump pulses and the signal pulses by measuring a 100 fs cross correlation. We then generate pulses tunable from 2.6 to 5.3 µm by mixing the signal and idler pulses in an AgGaS₂ crystal and obtain as much as 400 µW of average power.     

Non-critically phase-matched,Ti:Sapphire-pumped picosecond optical parametric oscillator using LiB3O5

We report a new source of high-repetition rate and widely tunable picosecond pulses for the near infrared. A singly resonant, cw, picosecond optical parametric oscillator based on temperature-tuned LiB₃O₅ and synchronously pumped by 1.8 ps pulses from a self-mode-locked Ti:Sapphire laser is demonstrated. The oscillator can provide average output powers of up to 90 mW under non-critical type-I phase matching at a pulse repetition rate of 81 MHz. Without dispersion compensation, transform-limited signal pulses with 720 fs durations have been generated at 1.2 times threshold. With the available mirror set, signal tuning over 1.374–1.530 µm and idler tuning over 1.676–1.828 µm is demonstrated for a range of pump wavelengths and phase-matching temperatures. With additional mirrors, continuous tuning throughout 1–2.7 µm should be readily attainable with a single LiB₃O₅ crystal.     

Generation of 200 femtosecond pulses tunable between 2.5 and 5.5 µm

The signal and idler output of an optical parametric oscillator are mixed in LiIO₃ and AgGaS₂ crystals to generate infrared pulses with a repetition rate of 82 MHz and an average power of 500µW. The infrared pulses are tunable between 2.5 and 5.5 µm, have a duration of 200 fs and a peak-to-peak intensity fluctuation of less than 5 %.     

Pulsed optical parametric oscillators with intracavity optical parametric amplification: a critical study

It is known that the idler conversion efficiency of optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) can be increased by adding a second nonlinear crystal in the cavity. This crystal is pumped by the signal and acts as an optical parametric amplifier (OPA) for the idler. However, this technique unavoidably increases the oscillation threshold because of additional losses and increased build-up time due to cavity lengthening. In this paper, we investigate both theoretically and experimentally the benefits and drawbacks of this so called OPO–OPA configuration versus the singly resonant OPO (SRO) configuration. Calculations are found to be in agreement with an experimental study of a SRO and an OPO–OPA operating near 3.4 μm both pumped by a 90-mJ 27-ns Nd:YAG laser. Our study reveals that the OPO–OPA needs to be driven at least two times above threshold to produce more idler energy than the SRO. In addition, near 3 μm the OPO–OPA is particularly efficient given that the difference frequency wave generated in the second crystal is also output coupled. PACS 42.65.Yj; 42.65.Sf     

Non-collinear optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier for few-cycle pulses

Modified parametric coupled equations for three-wave interaction in non-collinear optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) are presented, in which the effects from the non-collinear configuration have been taken into account. By utilizing this new model, a two-stage OPCPA system based on a BBO crystal is numerically calculated with a split-step Fourier transform algorithm. Tracing the dynamics of the signal wave in the crystal reveals that in the first stage spectral gain narrowing occurs due to the weak input signal intensity and the non-uniform temporal distribution of the pump light. However, in the saturation regime the spectrum of the signal will be broadened as a consequence of back conversion. The simulation shows that it is crucial to correctly control the experimental parameters to balance both processes. For maximizing the energy-bandwidth product (EBP), an optimized configuration is sought by examining several parameters such as pump intensity, seed energy and crystal length. With a pump intensity of 7.75 GW/cm² and a crystal length between 3.75 and 4.25 mm pulses with a sub-10 fs duration can be amplified with a total gain of up to 1.7×10⁶.     

KBe2BO3F2飞秒光参量放大中的群速匹配

提出了KBe₂BO₃F₂ （KBBF）飞秒光参量放大中三波群速完全匹配的方法.对于Ⅰ类相位匹配方式采用非共线结构及倾斜抽运光脉冲波面,对于Ⅱ类相位匹配方式采用共线结构同时倾斜抽运光和信号光脉冲波面,可实现参量带宽最大时三波群速的完全匹配,从而获得更高增益,更窄脉宽的参量光. 关键词： 群速匹配 相位匹配 脉冲波面倾斜 飞秒光参量放大     

High-efficiency,high-repetition-rate,temperature-tuning optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate

We report a compact and viable source of high-efficiency, high-repetition-rate, temperature-tuning, mid-IR optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate (PPMgOLN) pumped by a homemade high power AOM Q-switched Nd:YVO₄ laser centered at 1.064 μm. With an optimal plane-concave resonator configuration, average output power of 5.7 W at 2.73 μm was obtained when the pump power was 25 W at the repetition rate of 80 kHz. The conversion efficiency from the 1.064 μm laser to the 2.73 μm laser was 22.8%. Temperature tuning of the OPO yielded a signal wavelength range from 1.67 to 1.75 μm and an idler wavelength in the range of 2.72 to 2.92 μm.     

Frequency chain towards the Ca intercombination line based on laser diodes: First step

Stable, narrow linewidth operation of red and 1.3 µm free-running laser diodes with external gratings in non-Littrow geometry is demonstrated. The resonance of the saturated fluorescence of an atomic beam with a contrast of 25% and a linewidth of 400 ± 50 kHz of the Ca intercombination line 4¹ S ₀–4³ P ₁ ( = 657 nm) is shown. A high-power (110 mW) single-mode external cavity laser diode at 1.3 µm is used for second-harmonic generation in a KTP crystal. The beat signal (signal to noise ratio about 25 dB) of 10 nW second-harmonic radiation at 1.3 µm and the radiation of a laser diode in the visible spectrum, as a step to realize a frequency chain, is observed.     

Electro-optic tuning of a periodically poled LiNbO3 optical parametric oscillator and mixing its output waves to generate mid-IR tunable from 9.4 to 10.5 μm

We demonstrate electro-optic spectral tuning in a pulsed periodically poled LiNbO₃ (PPLN) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) in ns regime. A 3-cm-long LiNbO₃ crystal is segmented in three equal sections; the outer sections are periodically poled. The center segment is of single domain whose refractive index is changed by electro-optic effect. Applying voltage from 0 to −5000 V, the OPO signal and idler waves are tuned from 1.932 to 1.912 μm and 2.368 to 2.40 μm, respectively. The signal and idler waves obtained are difference-frequency-mixed in a 10 mm long AgGaS₂ crystal to produce mid-IR tunable from ∼10.5 to ∼9.4 μm, which matches the tuning range of a CO₂ laser.     

Noncascading THz-wave parametric oscillator synchronously pumped by mode-locked picosecond Ti:sapphire laser in doubly-resonant external cavity

A noncascading terahertz (THz) wave parametric oscillator synchronously pumped by a mode-locked picosecond Ti:sapphire laser whose average power was less than 1 W was demonstrated with a noncollinear phase-matching MgO:LiNbO₃ crystal in an external enhancement cavity doubly resonant for both pump (780 nm) and signal (781-784 nm) waves. In the external cavity, in which the pump wave enhanced so as to reduce the pumping threshold of parametric processes, the signal wave could also resonate and thus be enhanced simultaneously, resulting in a THz wave output at approximately 0.9 THz as the idler wave. The novel dual enhancement of pump and signal waves reduced the threshold pumping intensity to approximately 50 MW/cm², which was much lower than that of a conventional externally pumped THz wave parametric oscillator with a crystal.     

High‐energy optical parametric oscillator for the 6 μm spectral range based on HgGa2S4 pumped at 1064 nm

The defect chalcopyrite crystal HgGa₂S₄ has been employed in a 1064‐nm pumped optical parametric oscillator to generate <7 ns long idler pulses near 6.3 μm with energies as high as 3 mJ, tunable in a broad spectral range from 4.5 to 9 μm.     

Prospects for increasing average power of optical parametric chirped pulse amplifiers via multi-beam pumping

We demonstrate optical parametric amplification of broadband chirped pulses in BBO crystal pumped by several intersecting beams extracted from independent laser amplifiers. The energy of amplified signal ranged from 0.23 to 0.72 mJ depending on a number of pump beams used as well as pumping configuration employed. The conversion efficiency dependence on intersection angles of pump beams is revealed and modeling of interplay of interacting waves is presented.     

Visible femtosecond pulses by second-harmonic generation of a cw mode-locked KTP optical parametric oscillator

Efficient generation of femtosecond pulses in the wavelength range from 520 to 675 nm by external frequency doubling the signal wave of a non-critically phase-matched picosecond KTP Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO) in a non-critically phase-matched temperature tuned LiB₃O₅(LBO) crystal is demonstrated. An average power of the second harmonic as high as 310 mW at 575 nm was generated. In the absence of group velocity mismatch of LBO for a wavelength of the OPO at about 1.3 µm the minimum second-harmonic pulse width was 400 fs at 645 nm.     

Modeling the power of an optical parametric generator by discrete mode summation

An analytical expression for calculating the signal output power of an optical parametric generator (OPG) configuration was developed. The model is based on Heisenberg equations in space and radiation mode theory. A simple analytical expression can be obtained by assuming that all modes within the gain bandwidth of the nonlinear crystal have the same gain and the same interaction length. Another derivation considers the gain and interaction length of each individual mode. The model predictions are in excellent agreement with the measured signal power of OPGs based on 25- and 35-mm periodically poled LiNbO₃ crystal (with effective quadratic nonlinearity of ∼14.5 pm/V) and 47-mm periodically poled LiTaO₃ crystal (with effective quadratic nonlinearity of ∼9 pm/V). In addition, a comparison was made between the summation over discrete modes approach and the traditional approach of continuous integration over the beam parameters and pump frequency. We have found that the first approach, which is developed in this paper, predicts more accurately the output power of the OPG.     

Mid-infrared tunable dual-wavelength generation based on a quasi-phase-matched optical parametric oscillator

We report an efficient optical parametric oscillator (OPO) of dual idler wave output based on periodically poled MgO:LiNbO₃ with a periodically-phase-reversed grating structure, which is pumped by a Q-switched 1.064 μm laser with a repetition rate of 50 kHz. 0.98 W of dual idler-waves at 3.824 μm and 3.731 μm is achieved at room temperature, leading to a 12.9% conversion efficiency. The crystal temperature tuning provides output tunability of the dual idler wavelengths. In addition, the sum frequency generation of the dual signal waves is simultaneously observed in the OPO cavity.     

小型化外腔可调谐THz参量振荡器

基于LiNbO3晶体垂直表面输出技术,设计了一台小型化外腔THz参量振荡器。利用小型化灯1064 nm脉冲激光器泵浦MgO:LiNbO3,通过优化设计三波非共线相位匹配的光学参量振荡腔结构,实现THz垂直晶体表面输出,减少LiNbO3晶体对THz波的吸收,提高了THz波输出光束质量。当在泵浦光能量为128 mJ、重复频率为10 Hz时,获得THz波的调谐范围为0.69~3.01 THz,在1.6 THz处获得THz波最大平均功率为10.8 W,脉冲宽度为10 ns,对应THz波能量转换效率为8.4310-6。     

A 9.5-W 82-MHz-repetition-rate picosecond optical parametric generator with cw diode laser injection seeding

We report on an injection-seeded 9.5-W 82-MHz-repetition-rate picosecond optical parametric generator (OPG) based on a 55 mm long crystal of periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) with a quasi-phase-matching (QPM) grating period of 29.75 μm. The OPG is excited by a continuously diode pumped mode-locked picosecond Nd:YVO₄ oscillator-amplifier system. The laser system generates 7 ps pulses with a repetition rate of 82.3 MHz and an average power of 24 W. Without injection-seeding the total average output power of the OPG is 8.9 W, which corresponds to an internal conversion efficiency of 50%. The wavelengths of the signal and idler waves were tuned in the range 1.57–1.64 μm and 3.03–3.3 μm, respectively, by changing the crystal temperature from 150 °C to 250 °C. Injection seeding of the OPG at 1.58 μm with 4 mW of single frequency continuous-wave radiation of a distributed-feedback (DFB) diode laser increases the OPG output to 9.5 W (53% conversion efficiency). The injection seeding increases the pulse duration and reduces the spectral bandwidth. When pumped by 10 W of 1.06 μm laser radiation, the duration of the signal pulses increased from 3.6 ps to 5.5 ps while the spectral bandwidth is reduced from 4.5 nm to 0.85 nm. Seeding thus improved the time-bandwidth product from 1.98 to a value of 0.56, much closer to the Fourier limit. Received: 29 April 2002 / Published online: 8 August 2002     

Conical parametric scattering of a single extraordinary beam in BaTiO3 crystal

In this paper, the parametric scattering of a single extraordinary polarized beam of laser in BaTiO₃ photorefractive crystal has been investigated experimentally and theoretically. The resulting pattern consists of beam fanning, isotropic ring, and anisotropic one. Among all parts of scattering pattern, isotropic ring has not been studied as much as beam fanning and anisotropic ring, and there still are some differences in reports about it. Therefore, the study has mainly focused on this part. In this experimental configuration, isotropic ring is just visible in positive angles although the other parts of parametric scattering pattern can be visible from behind and in front of the crystal. In addition to steady state pattern in forward and backward directions, its transient behavior with the rotation of crystal has been studied. The results of experiments have been analyzed carefully, and their theoretical explanations have been presented based on the standard theory of parametric scattering in photorefractive crystals. It has been shown that this configuration corresponds to the so called parametric B-process scattering.     

宽波段连续调谐全固态CW PPMgLN光学参量振荡器

利用半导体激光泵浦输出1064 nm波长的全固态连续Nd:YVO4激光器作为泵浦源,采用周期调谐和温度调谐组合调谐技术,对基于掺氧化镁周期性极化铌酸锂晶体（MgO:LiNbO3, PPMgLN）准相位匹配（QPM）的全固态连续波（CW）光学参量振荡器（OPO）宽波段无分立连续调谐输出特性进行研究。实验采用连续工作模式和外腔结构,基于多周期PPMgLN晶体的30.2,30.4和30.6 m周期,在改变晶体的极化周期的基础上,同时在30～100 ℃范围内调节晶体工作温度。实验结果表明:CW PPMgLN OPO的泵浦阈值仅为0.22 W;不同极化周期需要的温度调谐范围不同;信号光在1 559.8～1 597.2 nm近红外波段和闲频光在3 187.3~3 347.3 nm中红外波段连续调谐输出。实现了外腔式全固态CW OPO在信号光和闲频光波段的无分立连续调谐输出。     

High-efficiency mid-infrared laser from synchronous optical parametric oscillation and amplification based on a single MgO:PPLN crystal

This paper presents a specially designed optical parametric oscillator (OPO) which achieved high-efficiency mid-infrared laser of 2.83 μm. The cascaded nonlinear interactions of OPO and optical parametric amplifier (OPA) were simultaneously realized in a single MgO:PPLN crystal. The signal oscillation of 1.70 μm was used to pump a secondary parametric process that resulted in amplification of the idler laser of 2.83 μm. When the MgO:PPLN crystal with a grating period of 31.2 μm was pumped by a 1.064 μm laser and operated at 148°C, the quasi-phase-matching of both OPO and OPA could be simultaneously achieved. Average output power of 7.68 W at 2.83 μm was obtained for 25 W of pump at 7 kHz. The power conversion efficiency of 2.83 μm laser was 30.7%, which was evidently higher than common OPOs.