Ultra-intense laser systems in the long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) spectral region have opened doors to new physics in accelerator research, primarily due to favorable quadratic scaling of the ponderomotive potential with the laser wavelength. Although there is a growing demand for higher peak-power in ultra-fast laser science, its progress is limited by the onset of nonlinear optical effects and laser-induced damage to optical components, which can degrade laser performance. Numerous studies have explored these properties in the ultra-violet to mid-infrared wavelength range using ultra-short-pulsed lasers, but their manifestation at longer wavelengths remains under explored. Consequently, there is a lack of reliable data on materials’ nonlinear properties and laser damage thresholds under ultra-short LWIR pulses near a 9 µm wavelength. This research presents preliminary damage threshold measurements for selected transparent LWIR laser optics and mirrors. Experiments were conducted in air for high-peak power 9.2 µm laser pulses with durations switchable between 2 ps and 70 ps. Samples were characterized ex-situ using optical microscopy to estimate the damage areas, which scale linearly with the logarithm of pulse energy for near-Gaussian beams. Observations reveal distinctive damage thresholds and morphologies caused by the two pulse duration regimes, with no clear scaling with the laser pulse width due to sample-to-sample variations. This laser-induced damage data is crucial for the design of future laser sub-systems such as post-compressors and contributes to the fundamental understanding of material responses to ultra-intense LWIR laser pulses.
We propose a TFLN ridge waveguide with a Si3N4 strip for photonic integrated circuits applications. The dispersion is found to be -0.1 ps/m/nm at 1550 nm which is 6 times higher than single-mode fiber dispersion.
In this paper, we report on a minized length, compact, low loss Y-branch waveguide based on lithium niobate optical crystal. The Y-branch waveguide device was fabricated using annealed proton exchange technique to achieve single mode guiding at 1550 nm wavelength. The simplified Y-branch structure has a total length of 18.7 mm and calculated bending loss of 0.5 dB has been realized with a splitting ratio found to be 1.25 at 1550 nm wavelength. Such easy to fabricate waveguide could find applications in future photonic communication networks, sensing, and quantum information technology.
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