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.     

High-power picosecond LiB3O5 optical parametric oscillators tunable in the blue spectral range

The paper reports on an experimental investigation and numerical analysis of noncritically and critically phasematched LiB₃O₅ (LBO) optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) synchronously pumped by the third harmonic of a cw diode-pumped mode-locked Nd:YVO₄ oscillator–amplifier system. The laser system generates 9.0 W of 355-nm mode-locked radiation with a pulse duration of 7.5 ps and a repetition rate of 84 MHz. The LBO OPO, synchronously pumped by the 355-nm pulses, generates a signal wave tunable in the blue spectral range 457–479 nm. With a power of up to 5.0 W at 462 nm and 1.7 W at 1535 nm the conversion efficiency is 74%. The OPO is characterized experimentally by measuring the output power (and its dependence on the pump power, the transmission of the output coupler and the resonator length) and the pulse properties (such as pulse duration and spectral width). Also the beam quality of the resonant and nonresonant waves is investigated. The measured results are compared with the predictions of a numerical analysis for Gaussian laser and OPO beams. In addition to the blue-signal output visible-red 629-nm radiation is generated by sum-frequency mixing of the 1.535-μm infrared idler wave with the residual 1.064-μm laser radiation. A power of 1.25 W of 1.535-μm idler radiation and 5.7 W of 1.064-μm laser light generated a red 629-nm output power of 2.25 W. Received: 2 February 2000 / Revised version: 28 July 2000 / Published online: 22 November 2000     

A ZnGeP2 Optical Parametric Oscillator with Mid-IR Output Power 3W Pumped by a Tm,Ho:GdVO4 Laser

We report an efficient mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator （OPO） pumped by a pulsed Tm,Ho-codoped GdVO4 laser. The IO-W Tm,Ho：GdVO4 laser pumped by a 801 nm diode produces 20ns pulses with a repetition rate of lO kHz at wavelength of 2.0481μm. The ZnGeP2 （ZGP） OPO produces 15-ns pulses in the spectral regions 3.65-3.8μm and 4.45-4.65μm simultaneously. More than 3 W of mid-IR output power can be generated with a total OPO slope efficiency greater than 58% corresponding to incident 2μm pump power. The diode laser pump to mid-IR optical conversion efficiency is about 12%.     

非共线相位匹配LBO晶体飞秒光参变放大器的研究

对非共线相位匹配LBO晶体飞秒光参变放大器进行了系统地分析和理论研究，用数值方法得出了非共线角、相位匹配角、增益和增益带宽之间的关系，给出了放大器设计的各种最优化参量。研究结果表明，这种参变放大器不仅可以实现较高的参变增益和获得极宽的增益带宽，还具有较大的参变允许角、较小的走离角和小的群速色散。因此这种参变放大器对于以纳秒级高功率激光作为抽运光，利用光参变啁啾脉冲放大（OPCPA）技术高效率参变放大飞秒脉冲产生10^12W甚至10^15W级的超强超短激光脉冲具有重要的意义。建立的理论模型具有普遍意义，也为其他类似的参变过程提供了重要的理论依据。     

Nonlinear optical properties of (B3O7)5- and (B3O6)3- groups

3 O₅ (LBO) crystal has been studied by using the bond valence theory of complex crystals. Chemical bond parameters and linear and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of each type of constituent chemical bonds are quantitatively determined. Because of the different crystal structure characteristics of LBO from those of β-BaB₂O₄ (BBO), the two anionic groups, (B₃O₇)^5- in LBO and (B₃O₆)^3- in BBO, play different roles in contributions to their own total NLO tensor coefficients of LBO and BBO, respectively. By comparison, we find that planar (B₃O₆)^3- groups are the ideal structure model, leading to little cancellation of contributions of each kind of bond in these groups, and this gives us a useful guide to design new NLO materials in the future. Received: 24 January 1997/Accepted: 27 March 1997     

Chemical-bond analysis of the nonlinear optical properties of the borate crystals LiB3O5, CsLiB6O10, and CsB3O5

The second-order nonlinear optical properties of practical borate crystals, LiB₃O₅, CsLiB₆O₁₀, and CsB₃O₅, which all contain the identical basic structural unit [the (B₃O₇)^5- group], have been quantitatively studied from the chemical-bond viewpoint. Differences in the nonlinear optical properties among these three borate crystals arise from the contributions of the different cations, i.e., the different interaction between the cation and the (B₃O₇)^5- anionic group. The chemical-bond method quantitatively expresses this important difference. At the same time, the current calculation also shows that the B₃O₇ group is a very important crystallographic frame in the crystalline borate solids; it offers different cations an excellent coordination environment. Received: 20 February 2001 / Accepted: 14 June 2001 / Published online: 30 August 2001     

Passively Q-Switched Quasi-Continuous-Wave Diode-Pumped Intracavity Optical Parametric Oscillator at 1.57

We report on a passively Q-switched quasi-cw diode-pumped Nd:YAG including an intracavity optical parametric oscillator. The dynamics of this system is described by solving the coupled equations. The effect of the initial transmission of Cr⁴⁺:YAG saturable absorber on the signal wave operation is studied. Under optimum conditions, we achieve 2.3mJ energy at 1.57μm wavelength for 40Hz repetition rate. The peak power of the pulses amounts to 0.88MW with the pulse width of 2.6ns. When the Fresnel reflection losses of the filters are taken into account, the pulse energy would be higher than 2.3mJ. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest pulse energy and peak power for such a type of single resonant quasi-cw diode pumped Nd:YAG/Cr⁴⁺:YAG IOPO laser.     

Type-I non-critically phase-matched second-harmonic generation in Gd1-xYxCa4O(BO3)3

Second-harmonic generation was z-cut observed Gd_1-xY_xCa₄O(BO₃)₃ (Gd_1-xY_xCOB) and the dependence of the phase-matching wavelength on the mixing ratio x has been investigated. The dependence on both temperature and angle tuning was examined as well. We found the suitable composition for noncritical frequency doubling at 930 nm, which is the lasing wavelength of Nd:YAlO₃ on the ⁴F_3/2?⁴I_9/2 transition. Received: 19 April 1999 / Published online: 5 May 1999     

Spectroscopic and fluorescence properties of erbium pentaphosphate (ErP5O14) monocrystals

Erbium pentaphosphate monocrystals (ErP₅O₁₄) were grown and their spectroscopic and fluorescence properties were determined. Also infrared-to-visible upconversion was observed.     

Spectral properties and quasi-phase-matched second-harmonic generation in a new active medium: optical superlattice Nd:MgO:LiNbO3

3 crystal – was grown in our Laboratory. The absorption and fluorescence spectra were measured and show some differences from the results of common Nd:MgO:LiNbO₃ with monodomain structure. Third-order quasi-phase-matched violet second-harmonic generation in the sample was demonstrated to characterize the quality of the crystal. The properties indicate that the periodically poled optical superlattice Nd:MgO:LiNbO₃ has great potential for constructing a blue or green light source through self-frequency-doubling operation using the maximum nonlinear optical coefficient d₃₃ of LiNbO₃ and the high-gain π polarization at the same time. Received: 22 August 1997/Revised version: 10 January 1998     

Synchronously Pumped Femtosecond Optical Parametric Oscillator Based on MgO-Doped Periodically Poled LiNbO3

We report a femtosecond optical parametric oscillator based on MgO-doped PPLN synchronously pumped by a mode-locked Ti：sapphire laser. The wavelengths of the signal and idler are continuously tuned from 1100 to 1300hm and from 2080 to 2930nm, respectively, by changing the pump wavelength and the OPO cavity length. The maximum signal output power of 130mW at the wavelength of 1225nm is obtained, pumped by 900roW of 800hm laser radiation. This corresponds to a total conversion efficiency of 22.1%. The signal pulse duration is measured to be 167fs by intensity autocorrelation with chirped mirrors for intracavity dispersion compensation.     

Threshold Analysis of a THz-Wave Parametric Oscillator

The parametric gain of a terahertz wave parametric oscillator （TPO） is analyzed. Meanwhile the expression of TPO threshold pump intensity is derived and theoretically analyzed with different factors. The effective interaction length between the pump wave and Stokes wave is calculated, and particular attention is paid to the coupling efficiency of the pump wave and Stokes wave. Such an analysis is useful for the experiments of TPO.     

Excited-state absorption and stimulated emission of tetrahedral Co2+ ion in LiGa5O8

Differential absorption spectra measurements of tetrahedral Co²⁺-doped LiGa₅O₈ have been made using a ps pump-probe technique. The stimulated emission from the ⁴T₁(⁴P) level to the ⁴A₂(⁴F) and ⁴T₂(⁴F) states is observed to be overlapped by the excited-state absorption. The excited-state absorption is tentatively assigned to transition from the ⁴T₁(⁴P) level of the Co²⁺ ion to the conduction band of LiGa₅O₈. For Co²⁺:LiGa₅O₈, laser operation is expected to be possible in the vicinity of 720 nm and in the 860–970 nm spectral region. Received: 5 June 1998 / Revised version: 20 October 1998 / Published online: 19 May 1999     

Photorefractive properties and self-pumped phase conjugation in a series of BaTiO3 crystals

This paper presents the experimental results of two-wave mixing and self-pumped phase conjugation (SPPC) in barium titanate (BaTiO₃) crystals doped with Rh or Ce. It has been shown that the main parameters of SPPC depend very strongly on the concentrations of dopants, the incident angles and the crystal cut used. High gain in two-wave mixing corresponds to low phase-conjugate reflectivity in all samples. It is impossible to maintain the highest reflectivity and gain simultaneously, because the gain will definitely be limited when we try to get the highest reflectivity, and vice versa. Some qualitative explanation of the experimental results is also given. Received: 5 January 2001 / Final version: 25 May 2001 / Published online: 19 September 2001     

1 W of blue 465-nm radiation generated by frequency doubling of the output of a high-power diode laser in critically phase-matched LiB3O5

Blue 465-nm radiation is generated by frequency doubling of the output of an InGaAs diode-laser oscillator-amplifier system in critically phase-matched LiB(3)O(5) (LBO). The diode-laser system emitted 4 W of single-frequency 930-nm radiation in a near-diffraction-limited beam (M(2)<1.2) . The laser power is enhanced to values of up to 150 W in a resonant external ring cavity. The LBO crystal is placed at a resonator internal focus. The frequency doubling in the LBO crystal generates blue radiation at 465 nm with a power of 1 W. The spectral width of the blue radiation is less than 3 MHz, and the value of the M(2) beam parameter is less than 1.2.     

Luminescent properties of crystalline lithium triborate LiB3O5

A study of the luminescence characteristics of crystalline lithium triborate LiB₃O₅ (LBO) is reported. Investigation of the excitation and photoluminescence spectra of nominally pure, oriented LBO crystals within broad spectral (1.2–10.5 eV) and temperature (8–500 K) regions, complemented by optical spectroscopy at the long-wavelength fundamental-absorption edge, has revealed that the broad-band LBO luminescence in the 3.5–4.5-eV region is efficiently excited by photons having energies above 7.5 eV in recombination processes and under corpuscular or x-ray irradiation. The totality of the experimental data obtained permitted a conclusion that the LBO luminescence has an intrinsic nature and that it originates from radiative decay of relaxed electronic excitations. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 223–228 (February 1999)     

CsLiB6O10晶体光学参变振荡器的光学特性

根据三波耦合过程中的能量和动量守恒、晶体的塞耳迈耶尔色散方程,通过数值模拟计算了213nm作CLBO光学参变振荡抽运源时,分别得到了在Ⅰ类和Ⅱ类相位匹配时参量光调谐范围为237～289nm、807～2793nm和404～2800nm。获得了在Ⅰ类匹配时的单谐振或双谐振腔的CLBO光学参变振荡转换效率都大于同等条件下的BBO光学参变振荡,Ⅱ类匹配时,CLBO晶体的转换效率略小于BBO晶体,但是CLBO光学参变振荡转换效率的最大值较BBO光学参变振荡出现于更短的紫外波段。从理论上证明了CLBO晶体是优质的深紫外透光波段非线性光学晶体。     

Third-Order Nonlinear Optical Properties of a Series of Polythiophenes

The third-order nonlinear optical properties of a series of polythiophenes are investigated with the Z-scan method under picosecond pulse laser irradiation at 532nm. The copolymers exhibit a good nonlinear response： large nonlinear refraction coefficients without nonlinear absorption. The signs of nonlinear refraction coefficients are positive, which are opposite to the negative signs of the polythiophene reported before. The mechanism accounting for the process of nonlinear refraction under pulse laser excitation is analyzed from the viewpoint of the electrondonor/acceptor units of polythiophenes. Moreover, changes of nonlinearity according to the lengths of main chains in polythiophene molecules are discussed.     

Large Third-Order Optical Nonlinearity of a Novel Copper Phthalocyanine--Ferrocene Dyad

Third-order optical nonlinearity of a novel copper phthalocyanine-ferrocene dyad is measured by femtosecond forward degenerate four-wave mixing （DFWM） technique at 800 nm. The second-order hyperpolarizability of the novel copper phthalocyanine-ferrocene dyad is measured to be 1.74 ×10^-30 esu. This large and ultrafast thirdorder optical nonlinear response is mainly enhanced by the formation of intramolecular charge-transfer which can enhance the delocalized movements of the large π-electrons in the molecules.     

Efficient laser performance of Nd:YAG at 946 nm and intracavity frequency doubling with LiJO3, β-BaB2O4, and LiB3O5

3 , β-BaB₂O₄, and LiB₃O₅ yielded a maximum output power of 550 mW at 473 nm with β-BaB₂O₄ as the nonlinear crystal. Received: 15 September 1997