To enhance the correlation in the orthogonal directions, a polarization self-modulation scheme with an intra-cavity quarter wave plate in a coaxial pumping orthogonally polarized laser was proposed. This quasi-isotropic cavity was compared with the traditional scheme in terms of the differences in the oscillation between dual components and the intra-cavity eigenstate distribution was obtained. Both theoretical and experimental results indicated that modes were effectively locked in TE and TM directions and dual-eigenstates output was achieved, which provided a half-free-spectrum-range frequency difference in ±45° directions. Q-switching and dual-wavelength-operation did not affect the polarization self-modulation process.
In order to obtain a passively Q-switched sub-nanosecond microchip laser with a low pulse jitter of less than 10 ns, a scheme of injection-seeding stable nanosecond laser pulses was designed. The pulse timing jitter of the passively Q-switched laser was improved from μs-level to ns-level with the seeding pulse energy of around 70 μJ. Based on experimental measurements, the dynamic process of pulse locking by varying the seeding pulse energy was discussed. The locking threshold affected by the peak pump power and time delay (ΔtQ) between the initial passively Q-switched laser and seeding pulses was also analyzed.
A theoretical model was proposed to simulate the broadband second harmonic generation (SHG) based on random quasiphase matching (RQPM) by Fourier transform mothed. A broadband SHG experiment system was built which could obtain the distribution of the SHG signal over a whole ZnSe sample. Both the simulated and experimental results demonstrated that the main feature of RQPM is the linear dependency of the SHG intensity with sample thickness.
Based on the rate equation of passively Q-switching, the effects of pump rate on the pulse timing jitter was simulated. The evolution of pulse jitter versus initial transmittance of the saturated absorber and pump power were experimentally investigated using different Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG bonded crystals. By adopting reasonable parameters, it was proved that the pulse jitter of passively Q-switching could be controlled within hundreds of nanoseconds. If an actively Q-switched laser was used as the seed laser for a passively Q-switched microchip laser, the pulse jitter could be reduced down to ~5 ns, and the output characteristics of the passively Q-switched laser with seed injection were discussed.
Efficient orthogonally polarized lasers (OPLs) with power balance is of great significance in many fields. A gain-selfbalanced coaxial-end-pumped orthogonally polarized laser is proposed in this presentation. Using the orthogonal Nd:YVO4 crystal arrangement and a quarter wave plate, different waves were amplified by both crystals and the OPL could operate under the optimized condition. Compared with traditional methods, the beam quality and the coherence of the OPL were greatly improved and the coherence could also be actively switched by pump conditions. Theoretical explanations and discussions were given from the view of thermal effects and laser resonators. It is believed the gain-self-balanced coaxialend-pumped OPL has broad application prospects in precision measurement and other fields.
A passively Q-switched dual-wavelength laser with pulsed LD coaxial end-pumped configuration was demonstrated. A theoretical model was built to simulate the dynamic process of the pulsed LD coaxial end-pumped dual-wavelength laser. Experimental verifications were carried out based on Nd:YAG/Nd:YAP crystals. When the reflectivity of the output mirror and the initial transmission of the saturable absorber were both 50%, the maximum output single-pulse energy of pulsed-pumped passively Q-switched dual-wavelength laser was 304 μJ, which was obviously enhanced compared with that in the CW pumping.
A novel method to modulate the phase-matching (PM) condition based on the linear electro-optic (EO) effect in cubic nonlinear crystals was proposed to enhance the efficiency and broaden the PM bandwidth of terahertz generation. Taking ZnTe and CdTe crystals as examples, monochromatic terahertz waves can be difference-frequency generated (DFG) and agilely tuned under perfect PM condition over a range of 2.25 THz and 1.84 THz, respectively, which also corresponds to large allowable wavelength and divergence angle of the pump beam. Simultaneous wideband terahertz generation via optical rectification (OR) modulated by the EO effect was also investigated. It introduces an extra degree of freedom to fulfill PM condition of different excitation wavelengths and polarization states by OR, where the polarization selectivity can be optimized by controlling the applied voltage.
A widely tunable eye-safe noncollinear phase-matched (PM) KTP optical parametric oscillator (OPO) with fixed output direction was proposed. Based on a novel confocal optics system, the input pump beam from a pulsed 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser could be deflected into the OPO with a tunable and agile noncollinear angle while maintaining the resonator unaffected. As a result, stable OPO operation with a wide tuning range of 124 nm was achieved easily with a beam scanner. The pump threshold, output energy, linewidth and temporal pulse shapes during wavelength tuning were also measured and discussed.
A high-efficiency, high-peak-power, widely tunable optical parametric generator (OPG) based on a MgO-doped periodically poled lithium niobate (PPMgLN) crystal is reported. Pumped by a microchip passively Q-switched laser (duration: 330 ps, repetition rate:1 kHz) with the power output of 880 mW, the OPG could be continuously tuned from 1399 nm to 4443 nm by changing the grating period and working temperature. The OPG generated an output power of 591 mW for the signal (1758 nm) and the idler (2695 nm) waves, achieving the internal conversion efficiency of 67.16%, slope efficiency of 89.6% and peak power above 1 MW at 1758 nm. The evolution of linewidth of the signal wave during wavelength tuning were also studied and the theoretical models were proposed. The linewidth was narrowed from 100 GHz to GHz level using a continuous-wave (CW) tunable seeder. The linewidth reached 1.72 GHz at 1626 nm, close to the Fourier transform limit of the sub-nanosecond signal wave.
High energy and widely tunable terahertz (THz) generation was demonstrated theoretically based on a semiconductor material 4H-SiC via difference frequency generation (DFG) process. Compared with the conventional THz nonlinear optical (NLO) crystals, 4H-SiC has the main advantages of extremely high optical damage threshold and wide optical transparent range, which implies the potential THz generation with high output energy and broadband tunability. Based on the basic NLO theories, the phase-matching (PM) characteristics, effective nonlinear coefficients, walk-off angles, and PM tolerance of DFG in 4H-SiC were calculated in the 2–15 THz range with different pumping wavelength. The output characteristics of THz generation were simulated in relation with the optical interaction length and the intensities of dual-wavelength pump beams via large-signal analysis among three coupled wave equations, which reveal that efficient and high energy THz generation based on 4H-SiC crystal could be achieved with appropriate crystal length and intensity ratio of dual-wavelength intense pumps, despite of a relatively low nonlinearity of the material.
A continuous-wave (CW) dual-wavelength laser with coaxial diode end-pumping configuration is demonstrated. A theoretical model was built to simulate the CW output power process of the dual-wavelength laser generation. The experiment was performed with Nd:YVO4/Nd:YAP composite laser crystals. The continuous-wave output power reached 5.28 W under the maximum LD pump power of 15 W, corresponding to optical-optical conversion efficiency of 35.2%. The power ratio between 1064 nm and 1080 nm could be tuned by varying the pump wavelength to balance the gains in two laser crystals.
We demonstrate the theory and experiments of a power-ratio tunable dual-wavelength laser with coaxial diode end-pumping configuration by varying the pump wavelength, which is realized by controlling the working temperature of the pump laser diode (LD). Composite laser gain media containing an Nd : YVO4 crystal and an Nd : GdVO4 crystal was used for example. The dynamics of the dual-wavelength laser generation based on practical input operating parameters were simulated, and in the experiment, a total power of 3.72 W was obtained under the maximum LD pump power of 8 W, corresponding to the optical–optical conversion efficiency of 46.5%. The characteristics of the power-ratio tuning and output power agreed well with the theoretical predictions.
A novel noncollinear phase-matching (PM) scheme by introducing a small tunable angle between two pump beams, was proposed to notably enhance the effective nonlinear coefficient (deff) in difference frequency generating (DFG) tunable terahertz waves in the ZnGeP2 crystal. Compared with the collinear PM condition, the noncollinear geometry transfers the PM angles to be around θ = 90° or θ = 30° for type-II (o→e→o) or type-I (o→e→e) PM to maintain large values of deff in the entire output frequency band, in which tunable bands of 1.90–4.5 THz or 0.47–4.30THz can be achieved, respectively, leading to a high conversion efficiency improved by tens of times. Based on the theory of noncollinear PM, the angletuning characteristics were studied and the crystal design was provided for efficient outcoupling. Rigorous theoretical models were built for both types under small-signal approximation to show the affecting factors of noncollinear PM and reveal its superiority compared with collinear PM. The idea presented in this paper not only provides a good solution for efficient terahertz generation in ZnGeP2, but it is also applicable in various optical frequency converters in different nonlinear materials.
A Monte-Carlo simulation was performed on the efficiency of random quasi-phase matching (RQPM) nonlinear optical frequency conversion in polycrystalline materials to show the detailed influence of the statistical grain morphology properties. The simulation took second harmonic generation (SHG) for example and considered the parameters of beam size, beam distribution, fundamental wavelength variation, polycrystalline average grain size (mean), standard deviation (Std), etc. The results and conclusions could enrich the theory of RQPM and provide guidance for polycrystalline material processing and sample selection for specific nonlinear-optical experiments.
A segmented RCS data measurement and processing method was proposed. Attenuation elements were introduced to improve the measurable signal range of the measurement system, and the accuracy was improved by segmented calibration of data. Based on this method, the warhead model was measured in a large dynamic range up to 63 dB. A compact-field radar cross section (RCS) measurement system applicable in the high-frequency terahertz range was built based on a seed-injected terahertz parametric generator (ips-TPG). The reliability of the system was verified by taking smooth stainless-steel spheres as the standard calibration objects and the RCS measurement of common target was performed at a high frequency point at 5 THz. The error between the measured and theoretical results was less than 4 dB.
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