Frequency conversion in nonlinear photonic crystal of strontium tetraborate

Using a nonlinear photonic crystal (NPC) of strontium tetraborate, we obtained the second-harmonic generation of femtosecond pulses in the nonlinear diffraction regime with an efficiency of 1.9% that is tunable in the near-UV spectral range, as well as fourth-harmonic generation under the conditions of random quasi-phase-matching with maximum efficiency of 10⁻⁵ that is tunable in the far-UV spectral range. The efficiency of second-harmonic generation in strontium tetraborate NPC under the conditions of random quasi-phase-matching was significantly lower. The fourth-harmonic was tunable between 187.5 and 232.5 nm. The previously predicted red shift of spectral components in the generated radiation spectrum upon NPC rotation is demonstrated experimentally.     

Propagation of ultrashort pulses in a nonlinear two-core photonic crystal fiber

We analyze the propagation of ultrashort pulses in a nonlinear two-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) by solving a pair of coupled-mode equations that include all the significant linear and nonlinear terms. In particular, we highlight the fact that the coupling coefficient dispersion can cause significant pulse distortion over a short length of a two-core PCF. We also study all-optical switching and multi-frequency generation and obtain a reasonable agreement with recent experimental data.     

Fourth-harmonic generation via nonlinear diffraction in a 2D LiNbO_3 nonlinear photonic crystal from mid-IR ultrashort pulses

Five conical harmonic beams are generated from the interaction of femtosecond mid-infrared(mid-IR) pulses at a nominal input wavelength of 1997 nm with a 2D LiNbO_3 nonlinear photonic crystal with Sierpinski fractal superlattices. The main diffraction orders and the corresponding reciprocal vectors involved in the interaction are ascertained. Second and third harmonics emerging at external angles of 23.82° and 36.75° result from nonlinearerenkov and Bragg diffractions, respectively. Three pathways of fourth-harmonic generation are observed at external angles of 14.21°, 36.5°, and 53.48°, with the first one resulting from nonlinearerenkov diffraction, and the other two harmonics are generated via different cascaded processes.     

Frequency doubling of phase-modulated chirped ultrashort laser pulses using a deformable mirror

We explore the use of a computer-controlled micro-machined deformable mirror to tailor the spectral phase of an ultrashort laser pulse to control the second-harmonic generation in KDP crystals. The SHG dependence of chirp and phase mask could be observed and adjusted by a simple theory.     

Parametrically amplified ultrashort pulses from a shaped photonic crystal fiber supercontinuum

By seeding a noncollinear optical parametric amplifier with a photonic crystal fiber supercontinuum, temporally well-defined amplified output pulses have been generated with durations down to 13 fs. The phase of the supercontinuum seed has been characterized by the ZAP-SPIDER technique and can be tailored with a femtosecond pulse shaper. Thus, a very flexible source for arbitrarily shaped, amplified ultrashort laser pulses has been realized.     

Soliton-like propagation of light pulses in a nonlinear photonic crystal

On the basis of computer simulation, we analyze the dynamics of interaction of subpulses localized inside certain layers of a one-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystal. Localized subpulses are shown to move and interact like solitons. Possible scenarios of their interaction are described: a spatially periodic regime, the merging of several subpulses with similar characteristics into a single higher intensity and more slowly propagating subpulse, and the formation of an immovable pulse in a layer of the photonic crystal. To verify the results of the computer simulation and to elucidate the nature of spatially localized structures forming, a comparison with the analytical solution for a medium with cubic nonlinearity is performed.     

Tunable femtosecond frequency doubling in random domain structure of strontium tetraborate

Efficient tunable femtosecond phase-matched noncollinear second-harmonic generation in randomized nonlinear photonic crystal of strontium tetraborate is obtained. Spatial spectrum of nonlinear photonic structure is not flat but enables tuning of the harmonic frequency in the range from 355 to 460 nm. The narrowing of the bandwidth of second harmonic is found to be of order of 10-20%.     

Hollow-core photonic crystal fibres for delivery and compression of ultrashort optical pulses

We describe the use of tapered hollow-core photonic crystal fibres for delivery and compression of ultrashort optical pulses. We demonstrate delivery of transform-limited pulses with less than 100 fs pulse length and above 50 nJ energy through 8 m of fibre, in a single transverse mode.     

Interaction of ultrashort elliptically polarized laser pulses with nonlinear helical photonic metamaterial

The effect of nonlinear properties of a material with a periodic structural cell (three-dimensional spiral) on the specificity of transmission and reflection of elliptically polarized laser pulses normally incident on the metamaterial is studied using the finite-difference time-domain method. An analysis of the hodograph of electric-field strength vector showed that an increase in the peak intensity of a linearly polarized laser pulse incident on a sample leads to an increase in the orthogonal component of the electric-field strength vector in the pulse transmitted through the medium. When pulses containing few electric-field periods are incident on a metamaterial, the latter demonstrates radically different optical properties for right- and left-handed circularly polarized light passing through the medium. It was shown that an increase in the intensity of a right-handed (left-handed) circularly polarized ultrashort pulse, incident on a sample composed of a rather large number of right-handed (left-handed) spirals made of nonlinearmaterial, widens the frequency range within which the incident light is almost entirely reflected from the medium.     

Tuning the frequency of ultrashort laser pulses by a cross-phase-modulation-induced shift in a photonic crystal fiber

Femtosecond pulses of fundamental Cr:forsterite laser radiation are used as a pump field to tune the frequency of copropagating second-harmonic pulses of the same laser through cross-phase modulation in a photonic crystal fiber. Sub-100-kW femtosecond pump pulses coupled into a photonic crystal fiber with an appropriate dispersion profile can shift the central frequency of the probe field by more than 100 nm, suggesting a convenient way to control propagation and spectral transformations of ultrashort laser pulses.     

High-efficiency blue generation by frequency doubling of femtosecond pulses in a thick nonlinear crystal

We have demonstrated highly efficient frequency doubling of femtosecond pulses in a thick, noncritically phase-matched KNbO(3) crystal under conditions of large group-velocity mismatch. At low power we observed a slope efficiency of ~300% nJ (-1) for harmonic conversion, and at higher powers we generated 170 mW of second-harmonic blue output for 300 mW of input light. Furthermore, we have shown that the focusing dependence for our conditions of large group-velocity mismatch is considerably different from that obtained for frequency doubling of continuous-wave light. We have also demonstrated that one can tune the spectral width of the generated blue light by varying the focusing conditions.     

Frequency conversion of ultrashort pulses

Problems of frequency conversion of ultrashort pulses are discussed. Efficient frequency conversion methods with large spectral bandwidth are reviewed with special emphasis placed on dispersively compensated schemes employing phase matchable nonlinear optical crystals.     

Broadening compensation for ultrashort pulses in photonic crystals

Extremely large group velocity dispersion of both signs can be achieved at the band edges of guided modes in photonic crystal waveguides. The selection of a proper value and sign of this parameter allows the design of short-length waveguides to compensate for pulse broadening. This pulse broadening can be caused, for instance, when a photonic crystal delay line is introduced. We present a theoretical study of the possibilities of using photonic crystal waveguides as intra-circuital dispersion compensation elements for ultrashort pulses, so the width of a transmitted pulse can be reduced. However, we also demonstrate that recovering the original pulse shape is not possible for these large-bandwidth pulses due to higher-order dispersion terms.     

Frequency doubling of multi-terawatt femtosecond pulses

We present an experimental and theoretical study of the influence of the spatial beam quality (fluence and phase distributions) on the second-harmonic generation in KDP crystals pumped by 180-fs pulses at 790 nm. Conversion efficiency and beam focusability are investigated experimentally and theoretically by the numerical analysis of the second harmonic, considering effects due to the cubic nonlinearity, beam diffraction, group-velocity walk-off, and dispersion of the pulses. It was found that the uniform intensity and phase distributions of the fundamental beam are essential to obtain a high focal intensity of the second-harmonic beam. PACS 42.65.Ky; 42.65.Re     

High-efficiency reflection-type all-optical switch for ultrashort pulses based on a single asymmetrically confined photonic crystal defect

We propose a reflection-type all-optical switch for ultrashort pulses based on a single asymmetrically confined photonic crystal (PC) defect. By changing the absorption of the defect rather than its refractive index, we obtain modulation of reflectivity with a large extinction ratio. In addition, the control light can be strongly localized in the defect region and completely absorbed by optimization of the absorption of the defect. More importantly, the significant broadening of the defect mode ensures perfect reflection of ultrashort pulses. Finite-difference time-domain simulation of the switching operation of a three-dimensional PC structure for a 500-fs optical pulse is performed. Switching energy of a few femtojoules is achieved.     

低对称性非线性光学晶体BIBO的倍频性质

测量了BIBO晶体的主轴折射率.对BIBO晶体在整个空间内的倍频性质进行了系统讨论.当基频 光为Nd:YAG激光时（λ=1064nm），发现最大的有效非线性光学系数位于（168.9°，90°） 的Ⅰ类相位匹配方向上.测量了BIBO晶体的容限角、容限温度、光损伤阈值，以及1064nm的 腔外、腔内倍频性质.实验中，最大腔外倍频转换效率达到68%，腔内倍频输出达到1.06W. 关键词： 低对称性 BIBO晶体 倍频     

Frequency doubling of phase-modulated femtosecond laser pulses in periodically poled and chirped nonlinear crystals

The second harmonic generation (SHG) at a wavelength of 0.8 μm by 50-and 10-fs pulses with and without phase modulation (PM) was systematically studied in LiNbO₃ crystals with regular domain structure and linearly varied domain thickness. The main results were obtained by numerical method, taking into account the difference between group velocities of interacting pulses and the group-velocity dispersion. In the approximation of the given field of the fundamental radiation, an analytical expression was derived for the spectral density of the second harmonic in the periodically poled nonlinear crystal (PPNC) under nonstationary excitation conditions. It was numerically found that the conversion efficiency of about 90% can be achieved by doubling the frequency of 50-fs laser pulses without PM in the LiNbO₃ PPNC. The maximum conversion efficiency for the SHG by PM pulses is achieved at a certain optimum chirp step in the crystal domain length, which depends on both the value and sign of frequency modulation.     

Propagation of ultrashort pulses in a nonlinear long-period fiber grating

By solving a pair of normalized nonlinear coupled-mode equations, we analyze in detail the propagation of ultrashort optical pulses in a nonlinear long-period fiber grating and investigate the conditions for the grating to function as an optical limiter or a saturable absorber. We show that the function of the grating depends on whether the nonlinear effect counteracts or enhances the detuning effect, and the nonlinear effect can be weakened significantly by the group-delay difference between the core mode and the coupled cladding mode. We present simulation results to illustrate these effects and discuss the physical conditions required for an effective operation of a nonlinear long-period grating.