Periodically poled RbTiOAsO4 femtosecond optical parametric oscillator tunable from 1.38 to 1.58 μm

4 that is continuously tunable in the signal wavelength from 1.375 to 1.575 μm and with a maximum output power of 110 mW. The signal pulses were produced with nearly transform-limited duration as short as 215 fs. Received: 27 August 1998/Revised version: 14 October 1998     

Mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator based on ZnGeP2 pumped by 2-μm laser

We present a 3 5 μ m optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on ZGP pumped by KTP OPO 2.1-μ m laser. The tuning curves of ZGP OPO are calculated. The 8 ×6 ×18 (mm) ZGP crystal, whose end faces are antireflection coated at 2.1 and 3.7 4.6 μ m, is cut as θ =53.5°, φ =0°. When the pump power of 2.1-μ m polarized laser is 15 W at 8 kHz, 5.7-W output power and 46.6% slope efficiency are obtained with a ZGP type I phase match. Central wavelengths of the signal and idler lasers are 4.10 and 4.32 μ m, respectively. Pulse duration is about 27 ns. Beam quality factor M 2 is better than 1.8. The tunability of 3 5 μ m can be achieved by changing the angle of the ZGP crystal.     

High-power 3.8 μm tunable optical parametric oscillator based on PPMgO:CLN

The experimental results of a high-power 3.8 μm tunable laser are presented on a quasi-phase-matched single-resonated optical parametric oscillator in PPMgO:CLN pumped by a 1064 nm laser of an elliptical beam. Theoretical analyses of the PPMgO:CLN wavelength tuning are presented. The pump source was an acousto-optical Q-switched cw-diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG laser. The beam polarization matched the e-ee interaction in PPMgO:CLN. When the crystal was operated at 90 °C and the pump power was 150 W with a repetition rate of 10 kHz, average output power of 22.6 W at 3.86 μm and 63 W at 1.47 μm was obtained. The slope efficiency of the 3.86 μm laser with respect to the pump laser was 17.8%. The M² factors of the 3.86 μm laser were 1.74 and 4.86 in the parallel and perpendicular directions, respectively. The mid-IR wavelength tunability of 3.7-3.9 μm can be achieved by adjusting the temperature of a 29.2 μm period PPMgO:CLN crystal from 200 °C to 30 °C, which basically is accorded with the theoretic calculation.     

1.8 μm optical parametric oscillator based on KTiOPO4

A 1.8 ??m optical parametric oscillator pumped by a diode end-pumped acousto-optically Q-switched Nd:YAG is demonstrated. A 30-mm-long KTiOPO₄ crystal cut with an angle of ?? = 59.4°, ?? = 0° is employed as the OPO crystal. 685 mW signal laser at 1.8 ??m is obtained at the diode pump power of 13 W and the pulse repetition rate of 25 kHz. Simultaneously, 265 mW idler emission at 2.6 ??m is obtained. The corresponded diode-to-OPO conversion efficiency is 7.3%. The pulse width of the signal and idler wave are measured to be 4.5 and 2.5 ns, respectively. This gives a peak power of 6.1 and 4.2 kW, respectively.     

Efficient all-solid-state mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator based on resonantly pumped 1.645 μm Er:YAG laser

We first report an all-solid-state tunable mid-infrared singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on a 1532 nm laser diode resonantly pumped, Q-switched 1.645 μm Er:YAG laser. An MgO-doped periodically poled lithium niobate was used as the nonlinear material. At the pulse repetition frequency of 2 KHz, a maximum overall average output power of 0.95 W with pump power of 2.8 W was achieved, corresponding to a conversion efficiency of 34% and a slope efficiency of 38%. The temperature tuning was performed giving signal and idler ranges of 2.67 to 2.71 μm and 4.18 to 4.31 μm, respectively.     

Mid-infrared femtosecond optical parametric generator pumped by a Cr:forsterite regenerative amplifier at 1.25 μm

We demonstrate a novel traveling-wave type optical parametric generator based on 1.25 μm pumping of AgGaS₂ that produces tunable, high-power and almost transform-limited 200-fs pulses in the mid-infrared up to 8 μm. Received: 24 January 2000 / Revised version: 1 March 2000 / Published online: 5 April 2000     

Fiber parametric oscillator for the 2 μm wavelength range based on narrowband optical parametric amplification

We describe a widely tunable synchronously pumped coherent source based on the process of narrowband parametric amplification in a dispersion-shifted fiber. Using an experimental fiber with a zero-dispersion wavelength of 1590 nm and pump wavelengths of 1530 to 1570 nm yields oscillations at 1970 to 2140 nm-the longest reported wavelength for a fiber parametric oscillator. The long-wavelength oscillations are accompanied by simultaneous short-wavelength oscillations at 1200 to 1290 nm. The parametric gain is coupled to stimulated Raman scattering. For parametric oscillations close to the Raman gain peak, the two gain processes must be discriminated from each other. We devised two configurations that achieve this discrimination: one is based on the exploitation of the difference in group delay between the wavelengths where Raman and parametric gain peak, and the other uses intracavity polarization tuning.     

High-power broadband laser source tunable from 3.0 μm to 4.4 μm based on a femtosecond Yb:fiber oscillator

We describe a tunable broadband mid-IR laser source based on difference-frequency mixing of a 100?MHz femtosecond Yb:fiber laser oscillator and a Raman-shifted soliton generated with the same laser. The resulting light is tunable over 3.0?μm to 4.4?μm, with a FWHM bandwidth of 170?nm and maximum average output power up to 125?mW. The noise and coherence properties of this source are also investigated and described.     

Application of mid-infrared cavity-ringdown spectroscopy to trace explosives vapor detection using a broadly tunable (6–8 μm) optical parametric oscillator

A novel instrument, based on cavity-ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS), has been developed for trace gas detection. The new instrument utilizes a widely tunable optical parametric oscillator (OPO), which incorporates a zinc–germanium–phosphide (ZGP) crystal that is pumped at 2.8 μm by a 25-Hz Er,Cr:YSGG laser. The resultant mid-IR beam profile is nearly Gaussian, with energies exceeding 200 μJ/pulse between 6 and 8 μm, corresponding to a quantum conversion efficiency of approximately 35%. Vapor-phase mid-infrared spectra of common explosives (TNT, TATP, RDX, PETN and Tetryl) were acquired using the CRDS technique. Parts-per-billion concentration levels were readily detected with no sample preconcentration. A collection/flash-heating sequence was implemented in order to enhance detection limits for ambient air sampling. Detection limits as low as 75 ppt for TNT are expected, with similar concentration levels for the other explosives. Received: 1 April 2002 / Revised version: 13 June 2002 / Published online: 12 September 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +1-408/524-0551, E-mail: mtodd@picarro.com     

Compact and tunable mid-infrared source based on a 2 μm dual-wavelength KTiOPO4 intracavity optical parametric oscillator

Using a double resonant KTiOPO 4 (KTP) intracavity optical parametric oscillator operating at degenerated point of 2 μm,we demonstrate a unique mid-infrared source based on difference frequency generation in GaSe crystal.The output tuning range is 8.42-19.52 μm,and a peak power of 834 W for type-I phase matching scheme and 730 W for type-II phase matching scheme are achieved.Experimental results show that this oscillator is a good alternative to the generator of a compact and tabletop mid-infrared radiation with a widely tunable range.     

70-W average-power doubly resonant optical parametric oscillator at 2 μm with single KTP

We have demonstrated a high-power intra-cavity-pumped doubly resonant optical parametric oscillator (OPO) at 2 μm with single-type II phase-matched KTP. A linearly polarized Q-switched solid-state Nd:YAG laser was used as the intra-cavity pump source, of which the output power and beam quality were improved by cascading two laser rods for compensating the thermal birefringence as well as by placing double acoustic-optical Q-switches orthogonally, and the output power of the doubly resonant OPO was studied versus the temperature of KTP and the repetition rate of the Q-switch. The output power was insensitive to the temperature of KTP in a wide range, and 70-W average power was obtained at 2 μm with the repetition rate of 5 kHz. The stability of the OPO laser was measured to be <3.5 % root mean square at the output power of 70 W for 400 s.     

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.     

Compact and widely tunable terahertz source based on a dual-wavelength intracavity optical parametric oscillation

In this paper, a continuously tunable terahertz (THz) source is obtained using a compact intracavity pumped dual-wavelength optical parametric oscillation operating around 2.1 μm as difference-frequency generation pump source. The tuning range of the THz-wave frequency covers from 0.147 THz to 3.651 THz. Based on the collinear difference-frequency generation in the GaSe crystal, the experiment result shows that our schematic is a good option to construct a compact and portable terahertz source with widely tunable range.     

High-peak-power, high-repetition-rate intracavity optical parametric oscillator at 1.57μm

We report a high-peak-power, high-repetition-rate diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG Q-switched intracavity optical parametric oscillator (IOPO) at 1.57μm with a type-Ⅱnon-critically phase-matched x-cut KTP crystal. The average power of 1.15 W at 1.57μm is obtained at 4.3-kHz repetition rate. The peak power of the pulses amounts to 33.4 kW with 8-ns duration. The average conversion efficiency from Q-switched 1.064-μm-wavelength input power to OPO signal output power is up to 10.5%.     

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.     

Angle-tuned signal-resonated optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled lithium niobate

We demonstrate an angle-tuned signal-resonated optical parametric oscillator (OPO) with periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) pumped by a diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser. 1499.8 - 1506.6 nm of signal wavelength is achieved at 140℃ by rotating a 29-μm period PPLN from 0° - 10.22° in the x-y plane while keeping the pump wave vertical to the resonator mirrors. Two pairs of the signal and idler waves of the same wavelengths can be achieved symmetrically for each pair of angles of rotation with same absolute value and opposite sign. Theoretical analyses on angle-tuned PPLN-OPO with pump wave vertical to the resonator mirrors are presented and in good agreement with our experimental results. It is also found that all interacting waves in the cavity (not inside the crystal) are always collineax for PPLN-OPO with the pump wave vertical to the resonator mirrors while phase-matching is noncollinear within the crystal.     

Intracavity optical parametric oscillator at 1.57-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/Cr^4＋ ：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.     

Electro-optic Q-switched intracavity optical parametric oscillator at 1.53 μm based on KTiOAsO4

An eye-safe, high peak power optical parameter oscillator (OPO) intracavity pumped by electro-optic Q-switched Nd:YAG laser is presented. This OPO is based on a 20 mm length KTiOAsO₄ crystal with non-critical phase matching (θ = 90°, ?=0°) cut. An aperture ∅3 mm acted as limiting diaphragm to get good beam quality of pumping laser. The output energy of 25 mJ at the signal wavelength 1.53 μm was obtained with repetition rate of 1 Hz. The highest peak power intensity was up to 88 MW/cm² with pulse width of 4 ns. Without diaphragm, the maximum output energy of 90 mJ was achieved with area of light spot (∅6 mm) four times larger, but the peak power intensity was lower.     

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.