Tunable femtosecond laser in the visible range with an intracavity frequency-doubled optical parametric oscillator

We demonstrated experimentally a synchronously pumped intracavity frequency-doubled femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) using a periodically-poled lithium niobate (PPLN) as the nonlinear material in combination with a lithium triborate (LBO) as the doubling crystal. A Kerr-lens-mode-locked (KLM) Ti:sapphire oscillator at the wavelength of 790 nm was used as the pump source, which was capable of generating pulses with a duration as short as 117 fs. A tunable femtosecond laser covering the 624-672 nm range was realized by conveniently adjusting the OPO cavity length. A maximum average output power of 260 mW in the visible range was obtained at the pump power of 2.2 W, with a typical pulse duration of 205 fs assuming a sech2 pulse profile.     

Continuous-wave mid-infrared intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled lithium niobate

This paper reports a continuous-wave （CW） mid-infrared intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled lithium niobate （PPLN） pumped by a diode-end-pumped CW Nd：YVO4 laser. Considering the thermal lens effects, it adopted an optical ballast lens and the near-concentric cavity for better operation. At the PPLN＇s grating period of 28.5 μm and the temperature of 140℃, the maximum idler output power of 155 mW at 3.86 μm has been achieved when the 808 nm pump power is 8.5 W, leading to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 1.82%.     

高功率,红光至中红外可调谐腔内和频光学参量振荡器

本文利用高重复频率,高平均功率大模场面积飞秒光纤激光器作为同步抽运源,抽运以多周期极化掺氧化镁铌酸锂为非线性晶体的单共振光学参量振荡器,获得了高功率可调谐红光至中红外光,信号光调谐范围为1450—2200 nm,闲频光调谐范围为2250—4000 nm,在2 W的抽运功率下,信号光输出波长为1502 nm时获得最大输出功率374 mW,转换效率为18.7%,脉冲宽度为144 fs,此时中红外输出中心波长为3.4μm,平均功率为166 mW.再利用BBO晶体对信号光进行腔内和频,获得和频光输出波长调谐范围为610—668 nm,在4.1 W抽运的情况下,最高平均功率为615 nm处的694 mW,转换效率达16.9%.     

Continuous-wave mid-infrared intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled lithium niobate

This paper reports a continuous-wave (CW) mid-infrared intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) pumped by a diode-end-pumped CW Nd:YVO$_{4}$ laser. Considering the thermal lens effects, it adopted an optical ballast lens and the near-concentric cavity for better operation. At the PPLN's grating period of 28.5\,$\mu$m and the temperature of 140\du, the maximum idler output power of 155\,mW at 3.86\,$\mu$m has been achieved when the 808\,nm pump power is 8.5\,W, leading to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 1.82{\%}.     

Eye-safe radiation source based on an optical parametric oscillator

We have studied an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) with an unstable telescopic cavity, placed inside the cavity of an actively Q-switched multimode Nd³⁺:KGW pump laser. We used a KTP crystal as the nonlinear medium for the OPO. We have compared the emission characteristics of OPOs with unstable telescopic and planar cavities. We have established that compared with the planar cavity, the unstable cavity reduces the OPO beam divergence and improves the spatial distribution of the radiation energy in the far wave zone. Based on our investigations, we have designed a compact eye-safe (λ = 1.578 μm) laser source with natural cooling, emitting (for electrical pumping energy 7.3 J) pulses with pulse energy 22 mJ and pulse duration 6 nsec. The FWHM beam divergence for the source is no greater than 3.5 mrad. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 73, No. 2, pp. 254–259, March–April, 2006.     

Efficient continuous-wave eye-safe region signal output from intra-cavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator

We report an efficient continuous-wave (CW) tunable intra-cavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on the multi-period periodically poled lithium niobate and using a laser diode (LD) end-pumped CW 1064 nm Nd:YVO₄ laser as the pump source. A highly efficiency CW operation is realized through a careful cavity design for mode matching and thermal stability. The signal tuning range is 1401-1500 nm obtained by varying the domain period. The maximum output power of 2.2 W at 1500 nm is obtained with a 17.1 W 808 nm LD power and the corresponding conversion efficiency is 12.9%.     

High efficiency continuous-wave tunable signal output of an intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled lithium niobate

In this paper we report on a continuous-wave (CW) intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator (ICSRO) based on periodically poled LiNbO₃ (PPLN) pumped by a diode-end-pumped CW Nd:YVO₄ laser. Considering the thermal lens effects and diffraction loss, an optical ballast lens and a near-concentric cavity are adopted for better operation. Through varying the grating period and the temperature, the tunable signal output from 1406~nm to 1513~nm is obtained. At a PPLN grating period of 29~μ m and a temperature of 413~K, a maximum signal output power of 820~mW at 1500~nm is achieved when the 808~nm pump power is 10.9~W, leading to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 7.51%.     

Synchronously pumped femtosecond optical parametric oscillator at 1053 nm

A femtosecond optical parametric oscillator synchronously pumped by a Ti:Sapphire oscillator is reported. By the cavity length tuning, the signal wavelength is continuously tuned from 1000 to 1200 nm. The average output power of 32 mW is obtained at 1053 nm. The pulse width is measured to be 342 fs by intensity autocorrelation method. In addition, we observed bichromatic emission during the cavity length tuning process. Supported by the National High Technology Program Research and Development Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 60490280 and 10804128), and the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2007CB815104)     

Mid-infrared generation based on a periodically poled LiNbO3 optical parametric oscillator

We report a nanosecond Nd:YVO_4-pumped optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on periodically poled LiNbO_3 (PPLN). Tuning is achieved in this experiment by varying the temperature and period of the PPLN. The design of double-pass singly resonant oscillator (DSRO) and confocal cavity enables the OPO threshold to be lowered considerably, resulting in a simple, compact, all-solid-state configuration with the mid-infrared idler powers of up to 466mW at 3.41μm.     

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.     

A 515-nm laser-pumped idler-resonant femtosecond BiB3O6 optical parametric oscillator

We report on an idler-resonant femtosecond optical parametrical oscillator(OPO)based on BiB₃O₆(BiBO)crystal,synchronously pumped by a frequency-doubled,mode-locked Yb:KGW laser at 515 nm.The idler wavelengths of OPO can be tuned from 1100 nm to 1540 nm.At a repetition rate of 75.5 MHz,the OPO generates as much as 400 mW of idler power with 3.1 W of pump power,the corresponding pulse duration is 80 fs,which is 1.04 times of Fourier transform-limited(FTL)pulse duration at 1305 nm.In addition,the OPO exhibits excellent beam quality with M²<1.8 at 1150 nm.To the best of our knowledge,this is the first idler-resonant femtosecond OPO pumped by 515 nm.     

Fiber optical parametric oscillator based on photonic crystal fiber pumped with all-normal-dispersion mode-locked Yb:fiber laser

We demonstrate a cost effective, linearly tunable fiber optical parametric oscillator based on a home-made photonic crystal fiber pumped with a mode-locked ytterbium-doped fiber laser, providing linely tuning ranges from 1018 nm to 1038 nm for the idler wavelength and from 1097 nm to 1117 nm for the signal wavelength by tuning the pump wavelength and the cavity length. In order to obtain the desired fiber with a zero dispersion wavelength around 1060 rim, eight sam- ples of photonic crystal fibers with gradually changed structural parameters are fabricated for the reason that it is difficult to accurately customize the structural dimensions during fabrication. We verify the usability of the fabricated fiber experimen- tally via optical parametric generation and conclude a successful procedure of design, fabirication, and verification. A seed source of home-made all-normal-dispersion mode-locked ytterbium-doped fiber laser with 38.57 ps pulsewidth around the 1064 nm wavelength is used to pump the fiber optical parametric oscillator. The wide picosecond pulse pump laser enables a larger walk-off tolerance between the pump light and the oscillating light as well as a longer photonic crystal fiber of 20 m superior to the femtosecond pulse lasers, resulting in a larger parametric amplification and a lower threshold pump power of 15.8 dBm of the fiber optical parametric oscillator.     

飞秒BBO光参量放大中闲频光二次谐波的产生

由于相位匹配条件和非线性晶体透光范围的限制，400nm蓝光抽运的飞秒β-BaB₂O₄（BBO）光参量放大（OPA）输出的参量光调谐范围有限，很难得到波长小于460nm的蓝光和近紫外光.实验采用1kHz钛宝石九通啁啾脉冲放大器的倍频蓝光作抽运光，超连续白光 作种子光，在Ⅰ类非共线相位匹配条件下，利用宽带的飞秒BBO OPA，在一定的实验参数下 获得了530—810nm放大的信号光，以及810nm—17μm波段范围的闲频光.与此同时 ，还获得了410—700nm连续可调的闲频光的二次谐波，其与闲频光层叠分布，单脉冲能量 为26μJ，转换效率大于5%.仅利用单块晶体的飞秒BBO OPA就可以获得410—810nm连 续可调的飞秒脉冲输出，从而为更多研究和应用的需要提供了重要的光源.对飞秒光参量放 大中闲频光二次谐波产生的条件也进行了理论分析. 关键词： 二次谐波 闲频光 非共线相位匹配 飞秒光参量放大     

Efficient continuous-wave eye-safe region signal output from intra-cavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator

We report an efficient continuous-wave (CW) tunable intra-cavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on the multi-period periodically poled lithium niobate and using a laser diode (LD) end-pumped CW 1064 nm Nd:YVO 4 laser as the pump source.A highly efficiency CW operation is realized through a careful cavity design for mode matching and thermal stability.The signal tuning range is 1401-1500 nm obtained by varying the domain period.The maximum output power of 2.2 W at 1500 nm is obtained with a 17.1 W 808 nm LD power and the corresponding conversion efficiency is 12.9%.     

连续波光参量振荡器定向红外干扰

介绍了基于光纤激光器泵浦的光学参量振荡器发展现状及其在定向红外干扰技术中的应用前景,对定向红外干扰技术的一些基本原理进行了讨论。利用自研的一台基于光纤激光器泵浦的连续波光学参量振荡器,通过周期调谐的方式分别实现3.414,3.630和3.820 m的瓦级中红外激光输出。采用这3个波长的激光对中红外热像仪进行了干扰原理性实验。对比实验结果可以得出:对于3.820 m波长的中红外激光,当其辐照的HgCdTe探测器前功率密度大于10 W/cm2量级时,在传输750 m距离后,热像仪实现饱和效果并且非饱和区域图像灰度级发生较大变化,达到了掩盖有用信号的目的。     

连续波光参量振荡器定向红外干扰

介绍了基于光纤激光器泵浦的光学参量振荡器发展现状及其在定向红外干扰技术中的应用前景,对定向红外干扰技术的一些基本原理进行了讨论。利用自研的一台基于光纤激光器泵浦的连续波光学参量振荡器,通过周期调谐的方式分别实现3.414,3.630和3.820 m的瓦级中红外激光输出。采用这3个波长的激光对中红外热像仪进行了干扰原理性实验。对比实验结果可以得出:对于3.820 m波长的中红外激光,当其辐照的HgCdTe探测器前功率密度大于10 W/cm2量级时,在传输750 m距离后,热像仪实现饱和效果并且非饱和区域图像灰度级发生较大变化,达到了掩盖有用信号的目的。     

基于光参量振荡器的重频人眼安全激光器技术研究

 对KTP-OPO的相位匹配进行了理论分析和计算,并绘制了角度调谐曲线。基于光参量振荡器,选用KTP非线性晶体,在1.57μm人眼安全激光波段进行了实验研究。将脉冲氙灯侧面泵浦Nd∶YAG 1.064 μm激光应用于腔内KTP-OPO设计中,在工作频率5 Hz时,输出激光能量32 mJ,脉冲宽度7.22 ns,光 光转换效率为41%。这一结果使重频远距离人眼安全激光测距成为可能。     

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。     

基于MgO:QPLN的多光参量振荡器电场调谐特性理论与实验研究

报道了基于掺氧化镁准周期极化铌酸锂(MgO:QPLN)的多光参量振荡器电场调谐特性理论与实验研究. 通过对电场调谐能力与极化结构参数间关联性的理论分析, 确定了高正负晶畴比MgO:QPLN电场调谐的可行性, 并模拟得到跨周期参量光输出波长与加载电压的关系曲线. 实验中通过对MgO:QPLN有效的电场加载, 实现了3.84 μm波段参量光的电场调谐, 频谱调谐带宽约6 nm, 调谐速率接近1 nm/kV, 进一步结合温度调谐, 实现了参量光宽谱段高精度的连续调谐. 所获得实验结果与理论模拟结果基本符合, 电场调谐在精度控制、快速响应方面相比于传统温度调谐更具技术优势.     

基于MgO:APLN的1.57μm/3.84μm连续波内腔多光参量振荡器研究

报道了一种基于MgO:APLN实现1.57 μm和3.84 μm跨周期参量光连续输出的内腔抽运多光参量振荡器. 采用1064 nm谐振腔与多光参量振荡腔折叠型复合结构, 综合考虑高功率抽运下谐振腔的热稳定性及多光参量振荡过程的光斑模式匹配, 通过对两个子腔谐振结构的数值模拟分析, 确定了最佳腔型参数. 在此基础上, 进一步研究了谐振参量光透过率对振荡阈值、抽运光下转换效率、输出功率稳定性的影响, 最终实现了3.13 W的1.57 μm和0.85 W的3.84 μm参量光输出, 对应斜效率为6.8%和1.9%, 输出功率稳定性分别达到了1.8%和3%.