Compact and portable terahertz source by mixing two frequencies generated simultaneously by a single solid-state laser

We have demonstrated a compact and portable terahertz (THz) source, based on difference-frequency generation in a GaSe crystal. The two input frequencies, required for achieving frequency mixing, are generated by a single Q-switched Nd:YLF laser incorporating two laser resonators. The average power of the THz output reaches 1 μW at 1.64 THz (182 μm) within a linewidth of 65 GHz. Such a THz source can be packaged into a compact and portable system.     

Low-threshold mid-IR MgO:PPLN optical parametric generation with high reflectivity mirror for signal wavelength

A low-threshold middle-infrared(mid-IR) MgO:PPLN optical parametric generation(OPG)pumped by a laser diode(LDl end-pumped Z-type Nd:YLF laser at 1047 nm is realized with high reflectivity(HR) mirror for signal.At repetition rate of 10 kHz,the OPG threshold of 50μJ has been achieved with HR mirror for signal.Compared with the threshold without mirror,the threshold decreases by 17%.Using HR mirror for pump at output side of crystal,the threshold of 40μJ is achieved.The 2.7-4.1μm continuous tunable output is produced with seven grating periods from 28.5 to 31.5μm and temperatures from 30 to 200℃.When the incident average pump power is 3 W.the OPG idler output power is 0.46 W at 3.26 μm,which corresponds to optical-to-optical conversion efficiency up to 15.3%.     

Terahertz generation based on parametric conversion: from saturation of conversion efficiency to back conversion

By stacking alternatively rotated gallium phosphide (GaP) plates, the maximum photon conversion efficiency of 40% for the terahertz (THz) generation based on difference-frequency generation has been achieved. The corresponding peak power generated inside the four GaP plates approaches 4 kW. As the number of plates is increased from four to five, the THz output power is significantly decreased, due to back parametric conversion.     

Resonant terahertz generation from InN thin films

Highly efficient conversion from ultrafast optical pulses to their terahertz (THz) counterparts has been achieved with InN thin films. An average THz output power as high as 0.931 microW has been obtained for an average pump power of 1 W, corresponding to a normalized conversion efficiency of 190% mm(-2). Based on our measured dependences of the THz output power on pump polarization, incident angle, pump power, and InN film thickness, resonance-enhanced optical rectification is one of the most plausible mechanisms for the THz generation in the InN films.     

Diode-pumped green light source based on intracavity sum frequency generation

We report a continuous-wave (CW) green laser emission by sum-frequency mixing in Nd:YVO₄ and Nd:YLF crystals. Using type-II critical phase-matching (CPM) KTP crystal, a green laser at 539 nm is obtained by 914 and 1313 nm intracavity sum-frequency mixing. The maximum laser output power of 388 mW is obtained when an incident pump laser of 18.2 W is used. At the output power level of 388 mW, the output stability is better than 4.6%.     

Diode laser pumped green light source based on intracavity sum frequency generation

We report a continuous-wave (CW) green laser emission by sum-frequency mixing in Nd:GdVO₄ and Nd:YLF crystals. Using type-I critical phase-matching (CPM) LBO crystal, a green laser at 538 nm is obtained by 912 and 1313 nm intracavity sum-frequency mixing. The maximum output power of 185 mW is obtained when an incident pump laser of 18.2 W is used. At the output power level of 185 mW, the output stability is better than 3.3%.     

All-solid-state continuous-wave frequency doubling Nd:YLF/LBO laser with 2.15 W output power at 526 nm

An efficient and compact green laser at 526 nm generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a continuous wave (CW) laser operation of a diode pumped Nd:YLF laser at 1053 nm under the condition of suppression the high gain transition at 1047 nm. With 19.5 W diode pump power and a frequency doubling crystal LBO, as high as 2.15 W of CW output power at 526 nm is achieved, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 11.2% and the output power stability in 8 h is better than 2.87%. To the best of our knowledge, this it the highest watt-level laser at 526 nm generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a diode pumped Nd:YLF laser at 1053 nm.     

Widely tunable monochromatic THz sources based on phase-matched difference-frequency generation in nonlinear-optical crystals: A novel approach

We review our up-to-date result on the development of widely tunable monochromatic THz sources, implemented based on difference-frequency generation (DFG) in GaSe, ZnGeP₂, and GaP. Using a GaSe crystal, the output wavelength was tuned in the range from 66.5 μm to 5664 μm (from 150 cm^?1 to 1.77 cm^?1) with the highest peak power 389 W. This tuning range is the widest ever produced for a continuously tunable and coherent tabletop THz source. Moreover, the conversion efficiency 0.1% is also the highest ever achieved for a tabletop system. On the other hand, based on DFG in a ZnGeP₂ crystal, the output wavelength was tuned in the ranges 83.1–1642 μm and 80.2–1416 μm for two phase-matching configurations. The output power has reached 134 W so far. Finally, using a GaP crystal, the output wavelength was tuned in the range 71.1–2830 μm, whereas the highest peak power was 15.6 W. The advantage of using GaP over GaSe and ZnGeP₂ is that crystal rotation is no longer required for wavelength tuning. Instead, one just needs to tune the wavelength of one mixing beam within the bandwidth of as narrow as 15.3 nm.     

Review of recent efforts on efficient generation of monochromatic THz pulses based on difference-frequency generation

We review our recent efforts on power scaling of THz pulses generated from several nonlinear-optical crystals. By using a high-resistivity GaP crystal, we have significally increased the output peak power to as high as 722 W. By stacking three GaP wafers, we have further increased the highest output peak power to 2.36 kW. On the other hand, by using CO₂ laser pulses, we have obtained the average output power of 260 μW. We have also used these laser pulses to scale up the output power for the THz pulses to 29.8 μW by stacking GaAs wafers. Indeed, by stacking up to ten wafers, we have increased the output power by a factor of 160. Finally, by using ultrafast laser pulses, we have achieved record-high output powers for the THz pulses generated from multi-period periodically-poled LiNbO₃ crystals based on a backward configuration. The highest output power obtained by us so far is 10.7 μW.     

Enhancement of terahertz wave difference frequency generation based on a compact walk-off compensated KTP OPO

A compact, walk-off compensated dual-wavelength KTP OPO near the degenerate point of 2.128 μm pumped by a Nd:YAG pulsed laser is employed as the pump for terahertz (THz) source based on difference frequency generation (DFG) in a GaSe crystal. Coherent THz radiation that is continuously tunable in the range of 81-1617 μm (0.186-3.7 THz) is achieved. An enhancement of 76.7% in average for the THz energies at different wavelengths is realized using the walk-off compensated KTP OPO than the common one. Using a 8 mm-long GaSe crystal, the maximum output THz pulse energy is 48.9 nJ with the peak power of 11 W, corresponding to the energy conversion efficiency of 5.4 × 10^− 6 and the photon conversion efficiency of about 0.09%.     

增益饱和对光学差频产生太赫兹辐射的功率和稳定性的影响

数值模拟并分析了以GaSe晶体为例对光学差频产生太赫兹（THz）波的特性.结果表明：当THz波长为227.5 μm,晶体长度为26.3 mm时,产生THz波功率达到增益饱和,在增益饱和点输出最高峰值功率可以达到945 W.由于晶体吸收的影响,THz波的增益饱和区是输出功率的非稳定区,而THz波的输出稳定区位于增益饱和区之后,在稳定区的THz波稳定性取决于抽运光的稳定性.当THz波波长为227.5 μm时,达到稳定区所需晶体长度为37.9 mm,此时THz波输出峰值功率可以达到735 W. 关键词： 光学差频 太赫兹辐射 稳定性     

490-nm generation by sum-frequency mixing of diode pumped Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>-Nd:YLF lasers

We report a continuous-wave (CW) blue laser emission by sum-frequency mixing in Nd:GdVO₄ and Nd:YLF crystals. Using type-I critical phase-matching (CPM) LBO crystal, a blue laser at 490 nm is obtained by 1063 and 908 nm intracavity sum-frequency mixing. The maximum laser output power of 118 mW is obtained when an incident pump laser of 18.2 W is used. At the output power level of 118 mW, the output stability is better than 4.2%.     

6.2 W diode-end-pumped 1313 nm Nd:YLF laser

We presented a compact and efficient diode-end-pumped 1313 nm Nd:YLF laser with an effective pump system and no additional insertion loss. The different thermal lensing effects along the ?? and ?? polarizations in an a-cut Nd:YLF crystal were investigated. 6.2 W output power of the polarized 1313 nm laser was obtained at the absorbed pump power of 17.5 W, corresponding to the optical-optical efficiency of 35% and the slope efficiency of 41%.     

瓦级激光二极管端面抽运351nm紫外激光器

研制了输出功率达瓦级的351 nm准连续紫外激光器。激光器采用激光二极管(LD)端面抽运Nd∶YLF晶体和声光调Q技术,实现了1 053 nm准连续基波振荡。在结构简单的V型腔中,两块Li B3O5(LBO)晶体对基频光进行二倍频和三倍频,获得了高功率351 nm准连续紫外激光输出。在LD抽运功率为14 W、声光调Q激光器的调制频率为1 k Hz的工作条件下,得到351 nm紫外激光平均输出功率为1.12 W、脉冲宽度为34 ns、单脉冲能量为1.12 m J、峰值功率达32.94 k W。LD抽运光到351 nm紫外激光的光-光转换效率达到8%,电光效率为3.4%,光束质量良好。     

二极管端面泵浦的附加脉冲锁模的Nd：YLF激光器

研究了二极管端面泵浦的附加脉冲锁模的Ｎｄ：ＹＡＧ激光器并分析了脉冲压缩原理及自启动机制,在最大泵浦功率为２．４Ｗ时,得到重复频率为１３４ＭＨｚ、脉宽为２ｐｓ、有效输出功率７６ｍＷ、相应峰值继２８３Ｗ、波长为１．０５３μｍ、波长为１．０５３μｍ的稳定的连续模脉冲序列。     

Diode-pumped Q-switched Nd:YLF laser at 1313 nm

In this letter, we describe the operation of an end-pumped acousto-optic Q-switched Nd:YLF laser. According to the theoretical analysis and calculation for Nd:YLF crystal, the thermal focal length of σ-polarized laser is positive in plane-parallel resonator, while that of π-polarized laser is negative. Hence laser operation at σ-polarized 1313 nm should be stable in plane-parallel cavity. When absorbed pump power is 12.45 W and the pulse repetition frequency is 10 kHz, 3.1 W output laser at 1313 nm is achieved. As a result, the optical–optical conversion efficiency is 25.4 % and slope efficiency is 31.2 %, respectively.     

Diode-pumped high-efficiency Tm:YLF laser at room temperature

High-efficiency continuous-wave (CW) Tm:YLF laser by the dual-end-pumping configuration is presented. Under the total input pump power of 24.0 W, the highest output power reaches 9.8 W in the wavelength range of 1910 - 1926 nm by use of 10% output coupling, corresponding to optical conversion efficiency of 40.9% and slope efficiency of 51.4%. The free-running laser spectrum of Tm:YLF is measured.     

普通单模石英光纤中频率上转换过程的研究

介绍了在普通通讯用单模ＧｅＯ２／ＳｉＯ２石英光纤中从近红外到可见光的频率上转换过程。利用１．３１３μｍ的调Ｑ锁模Ｎｄ：ＹＬＦ激光脉冲泵浦单模石英光纤，产生了５８８ｎｍ的黄光，峰值功率达２０Ｗ，对应０．０９％的转换效率。     

Diode-pumped Nd:LuVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>-Nd:YLF laser at 590 nm

We report a continuous-wave (CW) yellow laser emission by sum-frequency mixing in two Nd:LuVO₄ and Nd:YLF crystals. Using type-I critical phase-matching (CPM) LBO crystal, a yellow laser at 590 nm is obtained by 1066 and 1321 nm intracavity sum-frequency mixing. The maximum laser output power of 223 mW is obtained when an incident pump laser of 18.2 W is used. At the output power level of 223 mW, the output stability is better than 4.5%.     

Generation of high power laser at 1314 nm from a diode-side-pumped Nd:YLF module

We demonstrate a high power continuous-wave （CW） and acoustic-optically （AO） Q-switched 1314-nm laser with a diode-side-pumped Nd：YLF module. A maximum CW output power of 21.6 W is obtained with a diode pump power of 180 W, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 12.0% and a slope efficiency of 16.1%. In the Q-switching operation, a highest pulse energy of 3.8 mJ is obtained at a pulse repetition rate of 1 kHz. The shortest pulse width and maximum single peak power are 101.9 ns and 37.3 kW, respectively.