Single WDM channel efficient wavelength shifting and/or amplification using counterpropagating optical parametric amplifiers

We theoretically and numerically study the difference frequency generation and the signal amplification bandwidth together with the pump wavelength acceptance for counterpropagating optical parametric amplifiers. It is shown that the specific advantage of those amplifiers is that the DFG and amplification bandwidth is much narrower than in a co-propagating scheme, thus making it possible to shift spectrally or to amplify selectively a single channel over the several present in WDM optical fiber communications. Moreover, the pump wavelength acceptance is shown to be as broad as in the co-propagating scheme. The implementation of such counterpropagating optical parametric amplifiers in a quasi-phase-matched LiNbO3 waveguide is discussed.     

Time-reversed optical parametric oscillation

In recent works, the idea of time-reversed laser oscillation has been proposed and demonstrated to realize a two-channel coherent perfect absorber [Y.?D. Chong et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 053901 (2010); W. Wan et al., Science 331, 889 (2011)]. Here the time reversal of optical parametric oscillation in a nonlinear χ(2) medium is considered and shown to realize a coherent perfect absorber for colored incident signal and idler fields. A detailed analysis is presented for the time-reversed process of mirrorless optical parametric oscillation in the full nonlinear regime.     

发散光束抽运的宽带光参量啁啾脉冲放大系统的理论研究

对发散光束抽运的光参量啁啾脉冲放大器的增益带宽进行了系统的理论研究.采用空间傅里叶变换和四阶Runge-Kutta算法，分别模拟了非衍射极限情况下的高斯光束和空间频谱为矩形的发散光束作为抽运光时的增益曲线.结果表明：不管是在可见光或是在近红外光谱区，用发散光束均可以明显地改善光参量啁啾脉冲放大系统的增益带宽.选取合适的发散角和抽运光强，可以获得高增益、宽谱带的信号光输出. 关键词： 光参量啁啾脉冲放大 增益带宽 发散角 高斯光束     

非单色光抽运的光参量啁啾脉冲放大的带宽及增益特性研究

采用傅里叶变换的方法将脉冲光分解成不同的频率成分,建立了非单色光抽运的光参量放大耦合方程组的数值求解模型.研究了非单色抽运光对光参量啁啾脉冲放大的小信号增益、大信号增益以及增益带宽的影响.非单色抽运光降低参量放大的增益水平,但同时可提高增益带宽,且抽运光谱宽越宽,对增益带宽的提高作用越大.还进一步从相位失配和参量带宽的角度分析了非单色抽运光使参量放大的增益降低、带宽增大的原因. 关键词： 光参量啁啾脉冲放大 非单色光 增益带宽 飞秒激光     

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.     

Cavity-enhanced optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification

A novel method for the generation of high-energy ultrashort optical pulses is described and studied theoretically and numerically. Through the combination of parametric amplification and enhancement cavities, this method opens a route to generate few-cycle pulses at unprecedented average power levels through the use of a low-energy, high average-power pump source and energy storage in the enhancement cavity. Dispersion in the enhancement cavity ceases to be a concern with the use of long pump pulses. Limitations set by the Kerr nonlinearity of the amplifier crystal are analyzed, and ways to overcome them using self-defocusing nonlinearities are discussed.     

Stacking chirped pulse optical parametric amplification

Stacking chirped pulse optical parametric amplification based on a home-built Yb³⁺-doped mode-locked fiber laser and an all-fiber pulse stacker has been demonstrated. Energic 11 mJ shaped pulses with pulse duration of 2.3 ns and a net total gain of higher than 1.1 × 10⁷ at fluctuation less than 2% rms are achieved by optical parametric amplification pumped by a Q-switched Nd:YAG frequency-doubled laser, which provides a simple and efficient amplification scheme for temporally shaped pulses by stacking chirped pulse.     

近红外波段宽带时间低相干光参量放大技术

在激光驱动惯性约束核聚变研究中,具有宽带、低相干特性的时间低相干光源将有望降低激光与等离子体相互作用的不稳定性,成为新一代激光驱动装置的有力竞争者。实现高功率低相干光放大输出是低相干光驱动器能否应用于惯性约束聚变领域的核心。光参量放大具有大带宽、高增益、无热效应等优势,可避免能级型放大介质的光谱窄化问题,是实现宽带低相干光放大的有效方案。系统阐述了宽带时间低相干光参量放大技术的原理和技术特性,并基于实验验证了采用非共线相位匹配的近红外波段宽带时间低相干光级联参量放大过程,最终实现7×10⁷的放大增益和13.19%的转换效率。     

基于层状WS2调制激光泵浦的光学参量振荡中红外运转特性

光学参量振荡器是重要的中红外相干光源.近年来,在激光调制方面,二维过渡金属硫化物展现了非线性可饱和吸收特性,因此有望成为光学参量振荡器基频激光的优良调制元件.本工作中,首先,实验测量了层状二硫化钨(WS₂)调制固体激光的输出特性.其次,结合主动声光Q开关,实现了主被动双调Q光参量振荡的运转,得到了纳秒脉冲宽度的中红外脉冲,并研究了WS₂对光参量转换的优化特性,发现WS₂纳米片除了能够压缩脉冲、提高峰值功率外,还能缓解单主动调Q光学参量振荡器中的"输出饱和下降"现象,这种现象可能起因于砷酸钛氧钾(KTiOAsO₄, KTA)的制冷不均匀. WS₂的可饱和吸收效应能够显著压缩光斑,减少高斯光斑的边缘能量,因此能够缓解KTA的温度梯度分布,从而优化输出特性.最后,基于WS₂的非线性透过率曲线,考虑非均匀展宽机制和大信号下的非饱和吸收,计算了WS₂的可饱和吸收特性参数,并求解了层状WS₂调制光学参量振荡器的速率方程组.本...     

Photon conversion efficiency of backward travelling-wave parametric amplification and oscillation

Photon conversion efficiencies are expressed in terms of the jacobian elliptic function parameter η² and the overall gain. For amplifiers, the conversion efficiency is normally less than η², but their differences becomes small for gains larger than 5. Maximum efficiency equal to η² can only be achieved for oscillators.     

Synchronously pumped photonic crystal fiber-based optical parametric oscillator

We report the development of a compact, tunable synchronously pumped photonic crystal fiber (PCF)-based optical parametric oscillator (FOPO). The oscillator is pumped using a gain-switched laser diode producing 220?ps pulses around 1062?nm, amplified in a ytterbium doped amplifier to peak powers of 3.5?kW. The FOPO produces anti-Stokes pulses at wavelengths between 757 and 773?nm, with durations of 150?ps at average output powers exceeding 290?mW. The output slope efficiency of the device varies with output wavelength from 1.9 to 6.0%.     

Bragg amplification and oscillation in periodic optical media

The presence of gain in a periodic optical medium causes a fundamental change of the propagation behavior near the Bragg regime. The usual evanescent decay turns into exponential amplification. Some implications of this behavior are discussed.     

Simultaneous intracavity optical parametric oscillation and stimulated Raman scattering pumped by a doubly passively Q-switched Nd:GGG laser

By using a doubly passively Q-switched Nd:Gd₃Ga₅O₁₂(Nd:GGG) laser with Cr⁴⁺:YAG and GaAs as saturable absorbers as pump laser, simultaneous intracavity optical parametric oscillation and stimulated Raman scattering based on a single X-cut KTiOPO₄ (KTP) crystal have been realized. Under an incident diode pump power of 10.5 W, the output powers at the signal wave near 1,569 nm and the first Stokes emission near 1,094 nm were 218 and 72 mW, corresponding to the optical-to-optical conversion efficiencies of 2.08 and 0.69 %, respectively. The measured shortest pulse duration at the signal wave near 1,569 nm was 580 ps, generating a pulse peak power of 43.7 kW, while the minimum pulse duration at the first Stokes emission near 1,094 nm was 1.61 ns. By adjusting the tilt angle of the KTP crystal, up to the third Stokes scattering was also obtained.     

Low-threshold mid-infrared optical parametric oscillation in periodically poled LiNbO3 synchronously pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser

We report the generation of tunable high-repetition-rate optical pulses in the mid-infrared using synchronously pumped parametric oscillation in periodically poled LiNbO₃ (PPLN). Using a Kerr-lens-mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser as the pump source and a PPLN crystal incorporating grating periods of 21.0–22.4 μm, we have achieved wavelength conversion in the -–4 6μm spectral range in the mid-infrared. The use of a semi-monolithic cavity design and hemispherical focusing has permitted pulse generation in the strong idler absorption region of PPLN, resulting in a simple, compact, all-solid-state configuration with a pump power threshold as low as 17 mW and mid-infrared idler powers of up to 64 mW at 9% extraction efficiency. Signal output powers of up to 280 mW at 35% extraction efficiency are available over the -–1.004 1.140μm spectral range at 80.5 MHz and pulse repetition rates at harmonics of the fundamental frequency up to 322 MHz have also been obtained. Received: 5 December 2000 / Revised version: 23 January 2001 / Published online: 27 April 2001     

具有腔内光放大的单共振光参量振荡器

推导了描述稳态运行，具有腔内光放大的环形腔单共振光参量振荡器(ICOASRO)的功率特性的高斯光束理论.在这种结构的单共振光参量振荡器(SRO)中，适当地选择光放大器的参数，可以很大程度地降低单共振光参量振荡器的抽运阈值.在平均场近似下无二阶非线性交叉耦合作用的具有腔内光放大的环形腔单共振光参量振荡器的工作范围分成四个工作区域，且存在最小的单共振光参量振荡器的抽运阈值.文中的分析考虑了作为光放大器的激光增益介质的端面抽运特性，考虑了一般化单共振光参量振荡器的特性. 关键词： 单共振光参量振荡器 光放大 阈值     

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     

宽带光参量放大过程中的转换效率提升

建立了宽带光参量放大数值模拟平台,并基于此对宽带光参量放大系统的能量转换效率提升进行优化设计,根据模拟计算结果可以对实验中能够达到的最优化能量转换效率进行预判。建立了验证实验平台并进行了实验,研究并攻克了实验中遇到的参量荧光抑制、信号光,泵浦光空间精确匹配、脉宽精确匹配、时间波形整形等关键技术难点。在抑制参量荧光的同时实现了宽带光参量放大过程能量转换效率的提升,在单级宽带光参量放大过程中获得了30%的能量转换效率。     

宽带光参量放大过程中的转换效率提升

建立了宽带光参量放大数值模拟平台,并基于此对宽带光参量放大系统的能量转换效率提升进行优化设计,根据模拟计算结果可以对实验中能够达到的最优化能量转换效率进行预判。建立了验证实验平台并进行了实验,研究并攻克了实验中遇到的参量荧光抑制、信号光,泵浦光空间精确匹配、脉宽精确匹配、时间波形整形等关键技术难点。在抑制参量荧光的同时实现了宽带光参量放大过程能量转换效率的提升,在单级宽带光参量放大过程中获得了30%的能量转换效率。     

High-efficiency mid-infrared laser from synchronous optical parametric oscillation and amplification based on a single MgO:PPLN crystal

This paper presents a specially designed optical parametric oscillator (OPO) which achieved high-efficiency mid-infrared laser of 2.83 μm. The cascaded nonlinear interactions of OPO and optical parametric amplifier (OPA) were simultaneously realized in a single MgO:PPLN crystal. The signal oscillation of 1.70 μm was used to pump a secondary parametric process that resulted in amplification of the idler laser of 2.83 μm. When the MgO:PPLN crystal with a grating period of 31.2 μm was pumped by a 1.064 μm laser and operated at 148°C, the quasi-phase-matching of both OPO and OPA could be simultaneously achieved. Average output power of 7.68 W at 2.83 μm was obtained for 25 W of pump at 7 kHz. The power conversion efficiency of 2.83 μm laser was 30.7%, which was evidently higher than common OPOs.     

Pump-noise transfer in optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification

We report on direct observation of temporal contrast degradation of short pulses amplified by optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification. We show that, despite injection seeding, quantum-noise-induced fast modulations (< 50 ps) of the temporal profile of the pump pulse are imprinted on the spectrum of the amplified chirped pulse and give rise to a large picosecond pedestal in the time domain.