Walk-off and pattern selection in optical parametric oscillators

The effect of walk-off in pattern selection in optical parametric oscillators is theoretically examined. We show that a dynamic mechanism also allows us to observe the formation of structures for positive signal detunings. In this regime the pattern that is generated is a periodic array of kinks that separate regions in which one of two stable steady states is alternately selected. This structure can be regarded as a train of dark soliton stripes because the two solutions have opposite signs. The wavelength of the selected pattern is theoretically predicted, and the prediction agrees with the results of the numerical solutions of the equations governing the device.     

Femtosecond optical parametric oscillators

Development of femtosecond optical parametric oscillators (OPO) began a decade ago and has followed the technological progress in lasers and nonlinear crystals. There exist now such OPOs operating in the near or mid-infrared as well as in the visible. In this paper, we give an overview of the existing performances and of the prospects of this very active field.     

Nanosecond optical parametric oscillators

The main characteristics of nanosecond OPOs are presented: nonlinear crystals, tunability ranges, output energies, phase-matching conditions. A semianalytical model and a completely numerical model are described. They point out the importance of the complex intensity distribution that appears in the transverse planes of the output pulses. Techniques to improve the spectral and spatial quality of the output beams such as intracavity Fabry–Pérot filters or unstable cavity are detailed. Finally a modelisation and experimental results about intracavity OPO are presented.     

Synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillators

Recent work on the development of high-repetition-rate, synchronously pumped picosecond and femtosecond Optical Parametric Oscillators (OPOs) is reviewed. With KTP, BBO or LBO crystals and solid-state pumps such as cw mode-locked Ti:Sapphire, Nd:YAG or Nd:YLF lasers, the singly resonant OPOs or their nonlinear optical accessories yield pulses as short as 40 fs, average powers up to hundreds of milliwatts, and tunability from 200 nm to > 10 µm.     

Specific architectures for optical parametric oscillators

Optical parametric oscillators are coherent light sources showing properties that are not encountered with usual laser sources. This article deals with optical architectures that take advantage of the specific properties of the three-wave mixing parametric interaction. We show that optical cavities can be specifically designed to increase either the optical conversion of the parametric process or to reduce dramatically the emitted line width. To cite this article: A. Berrou et al., C. R. Physique 8 (2007).     

Stripe patterns in degenerate optical parametric oscillators

We experimentally demonstrate the stripe (or roll) patterns in a broad-aperture degenerate optical parametric oscillator in a plane-mirror minicavity. The stabilization of stripes is achieved by seed injection at a subharmonic frequency. We measure the temporal spectra of the stripe pattern and obtain the 1/f-like noise spectra.     

Towards integrated semiconductor optical parametric oscillators

Microelectronic grade semiconductors display excellent figure of merits for second-order optical nonlinearity effects. However, most of them are not birefringent and cannot be properly phase-matched for efficient optical frequency conversion. This paper describes the different phase-matching scenarios which are currently developed in different laboratories to solve this problem. If successful, this field of research will open the way to future complete integrated optical parametric oscillators.     

Secondary transverse instabilities in optical parametric oscillators

We investigate the effect of coupling between diffraction and walk-off on secondary instabilities in nondegenerate optical parametric oscillators. We show that traveling waves that propagate in the walk-off direction, which are generated at the onset of absolute instability, experience Eckhaus and zigzag phase instabilities. Each of these secondary instabilities splits into absolute and convective instabilities that modify the Eckhaus and zigzag instability boundaries. As a consequence, the stability domain of modulated traveling waves is enlarged and may coexist with uniform steady states. The predictions are consistent with the numerical solutions of the optical parametric oscillator model.     

Multiphase patterns in self-phase-locked optical parametric oscillators

Multiphase patterns are found in a mean-field model of a singly-resonant optical parametric oscillator that converts a pump field at frequency 3ω into signal and idler fields at frequencies 2ω and ω. A complex Ginzburg-Landau equation without diffusion and with a quadratic phase-sensitive nonlinear term is derived under single-longitudinal and paraxial propagation approximations. Owing to the phase-matched multistep parametric process ω + ω = 2ω, phase locking of the resonated signal field is possible with three distinct phase states. Three-armed rotating spirals, target patterns and light filamentation are found by a numerical analysis of the mean-field equation. Received 19 April 2001 and Received in final form 21 June 2001     

Order parameter description of walk-off effect on pattern selection in degenerate optical parametric oscillators

Degenerate optical parametric oscillators can exhibit both uniformly translating fronts and nonuniformly translating envelope fronts under the walk-off effect. The nonlinear dynamics near threshold is shown to be described by a real convective Swift-Hohenberg equation, which provides the main characteristics of the walk-off effect on pattern selection. The predictions of the selected wave vector and the absolute instability threshold are in very good quantitative agreement with numerical solutions found from the equations describing the optical parametric oscillator.     

Quantum images in non degenerate optical parametric oscillators

Quantum images, that is inhomogeneous field distributions purely generated by quantum fluctuations, persist when passing from the degenerate to the non-degenerate case of optical parametric oscillators (OPO). Below the threshold for parametric oscillation where the near-field distributions are homogeneous both in intensity and phase, appropriate spatial correlation functions anticipate the transverse spatial pattern that appears above threshold. In particular, the angular dependence of the far field spatial correlation function is able to reveal the travelling-wave nature of the phase pattern above threshold typical of nondegenerate OPOs. Cross-correlation functions between signal and idler intensities show clear evidence of the non-classical nature of the output light. Received 8 October 1999     

Stable topological spatial solitons in optical parametric oscillators

We predict that nearly resonant optical parametric oscillators support stable topological spatial solitons as a result of the interplay between diffraction and parametric amplification due to chi((2)) nonlinearities. Robust soliton stripes are observed in two transverse dimensions. Their stability is ensured by the phase-sensitive nature of the underlying parametric process.     

Solitons of singly resonant optical parametric oscillators

Single resonant parametric oscillators including intracavity quadratic and cubic nonlinearities are described in the mean-field limit with a cubic and quintic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation. Following our model, simple design criteria are derived for the generation of solitonlike pulses and beams for singly resonant optical parametric oscillators.     

Optimum pump-pulse duration for optical parametric oscillators

It is shown that for pulsed optical parametric oscillators there is an optimum pumppulse duration at which the threshold fluence is a minimum. The dependence of the threshold fluence on pump laser pulse duration is found to be substantial for lossy narrowband optical parametric oscillators. The pulse energy requirement for the pump laser may be substantially lowered by operating it at a pulse duration close to the optimum.     

Passively mode-locked slow pump optical parametric oscillators

We predict that employing a Bragg grating to simultaneously phase match and induce large temporal walk-off between the signal and slow propagating pump in a nonlinear crystal can be conducive to development of passively mode locked optical parametric oscillators in which cw near-infrared pump is efficiently converted into short middle-infrared pulses.     

Pulsed optical parametric oscillators with intracavity optical parametric amplification: a critical study

It is known that the idler conversion efficiency of optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) can be increased by adding a second nonlinear crystal in the cavity. This crystal is pumped by the signal and acts as an optical parametric amplifier (OPA) for the idler. However, this technique unavoidably increases the oscillation threshold because of additional losses and increased build-up time due to cavity lengthening. In this paper, we investigate both theoretically and experimentally the benefits and drawbacks of this so called OPO–OPA configuration versus the singly resonant OPO (SRO) configuration. Calculations are found to be in agreement with an experimental study of a SRO and an OPO–OPA operating near 3.4 μm both pumped by a 90-mJ 27-ns Nd:YAG laser. Our study reveals that the OPO–OPA needs to be driven at least two times above threshold to produce more idler energy than the SRO. In addition, near 3 μm the OPO–OPA is particularly efficient given that the difference frequency wave generated in the second crystal is also output coupled. PACS 42.65.Yj; 42.65.Sf     

Bloch domain walls in type II optical parametric oscillators

Evidence of Bloch domain walls in nonlinear optical systems is given. These walls are found in the transverse fields of optical parametric oscillators when the polarization degree of freedom, the cavity birefringence, and (or) dichroism are taken into account. These domain walls arise spontaneously and exhibit defects where Bloch walls of different chirality join together. Two dynamic regimes are found:In the first one the vector field approaches a final homogeneous state, and in the other the walls are continually generated and annihilated. This dynamic behavior is caused by the fact that walls of opposite chirality move spontaneously with opposite velocity.     

Interaction of cavity solitons in degenerate optical parametric oscillators

Numerical studies, together with asymptotic and spectral analysis, establish regimes in which soliton pairs in degenerate optical parametric oscillators fuse, repel, or form bound states. A novel bound state that is stabilized by coupled internal oscillations is predicted.     

Thermal effects in singly resonant continuous-wave optical parametric oscillators

Stability and tuning characteristics of continuous-wave optical parametric oscillators (CW OPOs) are affected by various thermal effects arising from optical absorption in nonlinear crystals. In this paper, we present an experimental study of such effects in a singly resonant CW OPO. The OPO operates in the 3-μm mid-infrared region and it is based on a MgO-doped periodically poled lithium niobate crystal. We focus our study on two thermally induced phenomena that have been recently reported to exist in singly resonant CW OPOs: optical bi-stability and thermal self-locking. Thermal self-locking effect, which is known to alter the stability and tuning properties of doubly and triply resonant CW OPOs, is shown to be also of importance in singly resonant OPOs. We report the stability and tuning characteristics of a thermally loaded OPO and discuss a simple temperature-tuning method that can be used to scan the OPO idler frequency continuously over several THz.