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.     

高效率内腔式2 μm简并光学参量振荡器

报道了一种高效率的2 μm光学参量振荡器. 利用1.064 μm声光调Q Nd:YVO₄激光器抽运基于氧化镁掺杂周期性极化铌酸锂的内腔式光学参量振荡器, 在简并状态实现了稳定高效的2 μm激光输出. 当808 nm激光二极管抽运功率为20 W, Q开关工作频率为15 kHz时, 产生了平均功率为3.5 W、脉冲宽度为1.4 ns的2 μm激光, 光-光转换效率为17.5%, 斜效率为25%. 据我们所知, 该转换效率在2 μm波段内腔式光学参量振荡器中是最高的.     

Harmonically pump a femtosecond optical parametric oscillator to 1.13 GHz by a femtosecond 515 nm laser

We demonstrate a harmonically pumped femtosecond optical parametric oscillator(OPO)laser using a frequency-doubled mode-locked Yb:KGW laser at a repetition rate of 75.5 MHz as the pump laser.Based on a bismuth borate nonlinear crystal,repetition rates up to 1.13 GHz are realized,which is 15 times that of the pump laser.The signal wavelength is tunable from 700 nm to 887 nm.The maximum power of the signal is 207 m W at the central wavelength of 750 nm and the shortest pulse duration is 117 fs at 780 nm.The beam quality(M^2 factor)in the horizontal and vertical directions of the output beam are 1.077 and 1.141,respectively.     

BiB3O6纳秒光参变振荡器

采用电光调Q脉冲Nd:YAG固体激光器的532 nm绿光作为抽运光源(10～13 ns,0～20 mJ),以Ⅱ类相位匹配(θ=57.5°Φ=0°)、尺寸为4 mmX 4 mm×12 mm的三硼酸铋晶体(BiB3O6)与一对1215 nm单谐振波长的平镜组成腔长为40 mm的谐振腔,构建了光参变振荡器的整个实验系统.系统将入射抽运光振荡产生1215 nm的信号光及946 nm的闲频光,结果显示,抽运阈值为9 mJ,最高耦合输出为2.57 mJ,抽运脉冲能量与信号脉冲能量的最高转换效率为14.59%.     

1.57μm被动调Q光学参量振荡器

在半导体泵浦被动调QNd∶GdVO4/Cr4+∶YAG激光腔内,利用KTP晶体实现了高重复频率的内腔OPO的稳定运转。OPO其信号光转换效率为7%,斜效率为10.3%。当泵浦功率7.3W时,可获得平均功率为0.48W,重频15kHz,脉宽6ns,峰值功率达13KW的1570nm激光输出。     

基于PPMgLn晶体全固态宽带可调光学参量振荡器

基于掺MgO周期极化铌酸锂晶体的光学参量振荡器是一种全固态中红外可调谐相干光源.泵浦源为1064 nm声光调Q Nd:YAG激光器.通过温度调谐实现了中红外可调谐参量光的输出,当晶体的温度从40°C升高到200°C时,获得信号光的输出范围为1.561 μm～1.670μm,空闲光的调谐范围为3.342 μm～2.932 μm.当泵浦源脉宽为70 ns,重复频率为10 kHz,平均功率为.161 W,获得波长为1631μm.当泵浦源脉宽为70 ns,重复频率为10 kHz,平均功率为1.61 W,获得波长为1631 nm信号光的输出功率为21 1 mW.     

Injection-Seeded 500 Hz Repetition Rate High Peak Power Single-Frequency Nd:YAG Laser for Mid-Infrared Generation

We develop an injection-seeded single-frequency neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser with 500 Hz repetition rate and high peak power. The laser construction is designed as seed injection and master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) including single-frequency master oscillator, extra-cavity frequency doubling crystal, and round-trip power amplifier. The master oscillator can emit 1,064 nm laser of 8.4 mJ with 6.8 ns pulse width at the pump energy equal to 23 mJ. A green laser energy of 1.1 mJ is obtained by setting the proper temperature of the LBO crystal. The pulse energy of 1,064 nm laser decreases to 6.5 mJ after passing through the LBO crystal and rises to 25.3 mJ after a round-trip power amplifier corresponding to the extraction efficiency of 29%. The final output pulse width is 6.5 ns, representing a peak power of 3.9 MW. The 1,064 nm laser beam quality factor M² of the master oscillator and the amplified one are 1.3 and 1.5, respectively. The laser will be used to generate mid-infrared where the 532 nm laser with narrow pulse width is to pump sheet optical parametric oscillator (OPO) and the 1,064 nm laser with high peak power to pump the OPO.     

Study on the spectral characteristics of the cascaded parametric conversion in a single cavity tandem multi-channel PPMgLNs-based optical parametric oscillator

We report an acousto-optic Q-switched Nd:GdVO₄ laser pumped flexibly tunable cascaded optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on two separate multi-channel periodically poled magnesium oxide doped Lithium Niobate (PPMgLN). Even under lower pump power, long wavelength parametric output was found to be more easily generated than in single stage OPO. A cascaded idler output at 5.075 μm was found to be generated. A convenient method to monitor the occurring of the cascaded parametric process was also presented by measuring the spectrum of sum-frequency generation of the pump power and the cascaded signal power.     

An efficient intracavity-pumped KTP optical parametric oscillator at 1572 nm

We demonstrate an efficient and eye-safe wavelength intracavity optical parametric oscillator (OPO),based on a KTP crystal inside a Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser end pumped by a fiber-coupled diode laser. Inthe acousto-optic Q-switched operation with the pulse repetition rate of 10 kHz, a 1572-nm eye-safe laser with the average power of 237 mW at the incident pump power of 5.64 W is obtained. Under the pulse repetition rate of 5 kHz, the signal light with pulse width of 2 ns and peak power of 18.5 kW is achieved.The conversion efficiency of the average power is 4.2% from pump diode to OPO signal output and thesignal pulse duration is about 13 times shorter than that of the depleted pump light.     

Nanosecond optical parametric oscillator based on large-aperture periodically poled RbTiOAsO(4)

We report on optical parametric oscillators (OPO's) based on periodically poled RbTiOAsO(4) (PP RTA), which are pumped by Q -switched solid-state lasers. With a diode-pumped Nd:YVO(4) laser (pulse energy, 800microJ ; pulse duration, 5.5 ns; repetition rate, 1 kHz) the PP RTA OPO generated 1.58-microm signal and 3.26-microm idler radiation with a signal pulse energy of 45microJ . The large aperture of 3 mmx3 mm of the PP RTA crystal also permitted OPO operation with pump pulse energies as high as 65 mJ, provided by a flash-lamp-pumped Q -switched Nd:YAG laser (pulse duration, 20 ns; repetition rate, 10 Hz). With this pump source the OPO generated signal pulse energies as high as 17 mJ, corresponding to an efficiency of 26%. The performance of this OPO shows that large-aperture PP RTA crystals are well suited for pulsed nanosecond OPO operation with pump pulse energies of tens of millijoules.     

Broadband, rapidly tunable Ti:sapphire-pumped BiB₃O₆ femtosecond optical parametric oscillator

We report a femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on the nonlinear material BiB?O? (BIBO) pumped directly by a Kerr lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser. Using a 1.5 mm long BIBO crystal cut at θ=11.4° for collinear type I (e→o+o) phase matching in the xz optical plane, femtosecond signal pulses across 1.4-1.6 μm, and idler pulses across 1.6-1.87 μm spectral range are generated, limited by the reflectivity bandwidth of the OPO mirrors. The high nonlinear gain and large spectral acceptance for type I interaction in the xz plane of BIBO permit rapid and continuous tuning across the entire range by simple fine adjustment of OPO cavity delay or through small changes in the pump wavelength, without varying any other parameters. Additionally, owing to the near-zero group velocity mismatch and dispersion, the OPO supports broad spectrum as wide as 33 nm, which results in self-compressed signal pulses. For 150 fs pump pulses, signal pulses with durations down to 106 fs with a time-bandwidth product of 0.48 are obtained without the need for intracavity dispersion compensation.     

高强度泵浦碱金属蒸气激光器的光参量振荡器

以电光调Q的Nd:YAG激光器为泵浦源,以磷酸氧钛钾（KTP）为非线性晶体,搭建了调谐范围为750~800 nm的光参量振荡器。信号光在中心波长780.2 nm处获得单脉冲能量113 mJ、脉宽15.43 ns、光斑直径5.5 mm的输出。用光栅单色仪测量信号光光谱宽度（FWHM）为0.38 nm。信号光通过120 ℃的铷蒸气池,观察到清晰的荧光轨迹。证明信号光能有效泵浦铷蒸气,可为铷激光器提供峰值功率7 MW的高强度脉冲泵浦源,进而研究铷激光器在高强度泵浦条件下的动力学过程和基础物理机制。     

Low-threshold singly-resonant continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator based on MgO-doped PPLN

We present a 532 nm-pumped singly-resonant cw optical parametric oscillator based on MgO-doped PPLN with a minimum threshold pump power of 0.3 W. The OPO with a two-mirror standing-wave cavity is optimized by using a tunable diode laser on the path of the resonant signal beam. The maximum output power is 200 mW at an idler wavelength near 1330 nm at a pump power of 2 W. We report the degradation of the output power and beam characteristics at high pump power indicating a strong thermal lensing in the crystal. The continuous tuning range of the OPO is measured to be 800 MHz which is close to 90% of the free spectral range of the OPO cavity.     

Intracavity optical parametric oscillator at 1.5-7-μm wavelength pumped by passive Q-switched Nd:GdVO4 laser

A high-repetition-rate eye-safe optical parametric oscillator(OPO),using a non-critically phase-matched KTP crystal intracavity pumped by a passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO4/Cr4 :YAG laser,is experimentally demonstrated.The conversion efficiency for the average power is 7% from pump diode input to OPO signal output and the slope efficiency is up to 10.3%.With an incident pump power of 7.3 W.the compact intracavity OPO(IOPO)cavity,operating at 15 kHz,produces an average power of 0.57 W at 1570 nm with a pulse width as short as 6 ns.The peak power at 1570 nm is higher than 6.3 kW.     

High-power synchronously pumped AgGaS(2) optical parametric oscillator

Greater than 2 W of average power was generated in the infrared region by a AgGaS(2) optical parametric oscillator (OPO). A Q -switched mode-locked laser was used to pump the OPO synchronously. Tunability from 1.4 to 1.9mum and a maximum output power of 750 mW at 1.44mum were achieved with a standing-wave cavity. Redesigning the cavity into a ring configuration allowed the depleted pump, signal, and idler beams to be extracted efficiently through separate mirrors. This design generated signal and idler beams of high spatial quality at respective power levels of 1.5 and 620 mW at a pulse repetition rate of 2 kHz.     

低频压缩态光场的制备

低频压缩态光场可用于提高引力波探测器灵敏度, 近年来受到人们的广泛关注. 相对于高频段而言, 低频压缩态的产生更容易受到外界环境噪声的干扰而不易被观察到. 本文采用全固化单频倍频Nd: YVO4/KTP激光器作为光源, 利用双波长共振的光学参量振荡器实现参量过程, 以1064 nm波长的红外作为基频光, 激光器腔内倍频产生的532 nm绿光作为抽运光, 通过调节周期性极化磷酸氧钛钾晶体温度使光学参量振荡器达到双波长同时共振, 采用真空注入的方式, 利用Pound-Drever-Hall锁腔技术锁定抽运场. 输出压缩光通过平衡零拍探测, 最终在实验上获得了频率低至3 kHz的真空压缩, 所直接观察到的压缩度为2 dB.     

High-energy PPMgLN optical parametric oscillator pumped by a 1.064 μm E-O Q-Switched Nd:YAG laser

A high-energy PPMgLN optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a E-O Q-switched Nd:YAG laser working at 1.064 μm was successfully illustrated. A maximum output pulse energy of 3.4 mJ was obtained with a pump threshold of 1.5 mJ and a slope efficiency of 30% around room temperature. The OPO output signal and idler wavelength were 1552 and 3384 nm, respectively. The damage to the input surface of PPMgLN crystal was carefully observed with a damage threshold of 4.6 J/cm².     

Beam quality of a high-power CO2 laser MOPA system

In this paper, the effects of amplification of diffraction-limited pulsed CO₂ laser radiation over several meters of amplification length on beam quality and pointing stability are documented. Millijoule pulses are amplified up to 3 J. Generation and amplification of the 10 μm wavelength pulses were performed in the discharge volume of an e-beam sustained CO₂ laser. Beam quality is measured according to the ISO/DIS 11146 standard in terms of the beam quality factor M². Fluence distributions were recorded with a beam analysing system of 100 μm spatial resolution. M² parameter values ranged up to 1.55 for amplified pulse energies of 3 J. The necessity of beam-quality restoring techniques is inferred for the multijoule pulse energy regime.     

Er~(3+),Yb~(3+):glass-Co~(2+):MgAl_2O_4 diffusion bonded passively Q-switched laser

A Co~(2+):spinel passively Q-switched erbium-ytterbium-phosphate glass bonded laser pumped at 940 nm is reported.A pulse energy of 210 μJ, a peak power over 70 kW, and beam quality M~2 parameter of 1.2 are obtained under a pump power of 235 mW. An unbonded laser output experiment with the same dimension of the active material and the saturable absorber as the bonded laser output experiment is carried out. The reason why the output in the bonded laser is improved is determined.     

Low-threshold operation of a 355-nm pumped nanosecond β-BaB2O4 optical parametric oscillator

We report the low-threshold operation of a nanosecond β-BaB₂O₄ optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by the third harmonic of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. Using cylindrical focusing of the pump beam, a threshold pulse energy of 0.5 mJ is obtained at the signal wavelength of 560 nm, which is about sixteen times lower than that of a spherical focusing configuration. The importance of diffraction loss in the design of tightly focused OPOs is discussed in terms of a simple extension of the conventional OPO model.