Fully efficient adiabatic frequency conversion of broadband Ti:sapphire oscillator pulses

Moses, Jeffrey; Suchowski, Haim; Kärtner, Franz X.

doi:10.1364/ol.37.001589

Cited by 41 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…We are currently investigating the energy limitations of the device. We note, while full conversion efficiency in the difference frequency application presented here does not involve the general three wave type dynamics, where the pump and signal are comparable in intensity (depleted pump regime), this regime would offer greater energy scalability when the pump intensity is limited, and is especially important for efficient OPA applications, a topic that has been probed recently by other groups [12][13][14][15].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The concept was applied successfully to the upconversion and downconversion of ultrashort pulses, applying the mechanism of 'chirp pulse conversion' (i.e. stretching the ultrashort seed pulse prior to the conversion process), where conversion of Ti:S oscillator pulses with near-100% efficiency for a broadband spectrum has been obtained [12,13]. Also, the Landau-Zener theory for adiabatic passage was experimentally verified, showing that in the adiabatic limit, the conversion efficiency asymptotically approaches unity with no frequency back-conversion for a broad spectral range [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…stretching the ultrashort seed pulse prior to the conversion process), where conversion of Ti:S oscillator pulses with near-100% efficiency for a broadband spectrum has been obtained [12,13]. Also, the Landau-Zener theory for adiabatic passage was experimentally verified, showing that in the adiabatic limit, the conversion efficiency asymptotically approaches unity with no frequency back-conversion for a broad spectral range [13]. Later, it was shown that the adiabatic evolution can be applied for efficient conversion of ultrashort pulses in optical parametric amplifier and oscillator systems [14,15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Octave-spanning coherent mid-IR generation via adiabatic difference frequency conversion

Suchowski¹,

Krogen²,

Huang³

et al. 2013

Opt. Express

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Abstract:We demonstrate efficient downconversion of a near-IR broadband optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA) pulse to a 1.1-octave-spanning mid-IR pulse (measured at −10 dB of peak) via a single nonlinearly and adiabatically chirped quasi-phase-matching grating in magnesium oxide doped lithium niobate. We report a spectrum spanning from 2 to 5 μm and obtained by near full photon number conversion of μJ-energy OPCPA pulses spanning 680-870 nm mixed with a narrowband 1047-nm pulse. The conversion process is shown to be robust for various input broadband OPA pulses and suitable for post-amplification conversion for many near-IR systems.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Octave-spanning coherent mid-IR generation via adiabatic difference frequency conversion

Suchowski¹,

Krogen²,

Huang³

et al. 2013

Opt. Express

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“…Recently, adiabatic difference frequency generation with almost 100% photon conversion efficiency was demonstrated inside a chirped A-PPLN crystal covering the mid-IR region [5,6].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adiabatic sum-frequency generation in the visible region

Çankaya

Calendron

Suchowski

et al. 2013

Advanced Solid-State Lasers Congress

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Abstract:We demonstrated adiabatic sum-frequency generation with 92 % photon conversion efficiency between a white-light continuum and a strong pump at 1030 nm to cover the spectral range of 405-500 nm by using an aperiodically-poled nonlinear crystal. SummaryNonlinear three-wave mixing provides an opportunity to generate light in wavelength regions that are not covered easily even with very broadband laser systems, such as Ti:Sapphire. The bandwidth of three-wave mixing inside a bulk crystal can be enhanced by decreasing the length of the medium at the expense of efficiency. Quasi-phase matching allows us to broaden the phase-matching bandwidth with relatively higher conversion efficiency [1]. However, also this process exhibits a trade off between bandwidth and efficiency. In the presence of a strong pump pulse, one can overcome this limit by employing Landau-Zener adiabatic transfer in non-linear optical wave-mixing. In this technique, the domain size of an aperiodically poled crystal varies slowly which allows the three-wave mixing process to follow an adiabatic passage process inside the nonlinear medium [2-4]. Previously, adiabatic sumfrequency generation (A-SFG) with photon conversion efficiencies as high as 11 % for a seed-bandwidth of 80nm centered around 765 nm was shown in Ref. [4]. In Ref.[3], a SFG conversion efficiency of 74 % was recorded using a tunable seed source between 1400-1700nm. Recently, adiabatic difference frequency generation with almost 100% photon conversion efficiency was demonstrated inside a chirped A-PPLN crystal covering the mid-IR region [5,6].In this work, we describe and demonstrate adiabatic sum-generation (A-SFG) with 92 % photon conversion efficiency inside an aperiodically-poled KTP crystal through Landau-Zener adiabatic. A slowly varying grating design inside the crystal allows us to convert white-light continuum in the range of 660-980 nm to 405-500 nm with very high photon conversion efficiency. To our knowledge, this is the highest photon conversion efficiency reported from a sum-frequency generation process.

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“…Generally, the weak seed, a few picojoules, limits the amplified output energy of the current 2.15 μm OPCPA because of the pump depletion by superfluorescence [16,20]. It has been a recent endeavor to improve the 2 μm seed power [13,21]. Starting with the scheme shown here, the effective seed has a photon number equal to the phase-matched signal band of the Ti:sapphire oscillator (nanojoule-level energy), and thus the initial signal-to-noise ratio is improved by two orders of magnitude [22].…”

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confidence: 99%

Broadband noncollinear optical parametric amplification without angularly dispersed idler

2012

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We report a new scheme for direct generation of broadband angular-dispersion-free mid-IR idler pulses via noncollinear optical parametric amplification when group-velocity matched wavelengths cannot be found and the traditional noncollinear geometry fails to increase the phase-matching bandwidth. The scheme does not require any post-amplification idler angular dispersion compensation. We derive and interpret the condition for broadband amplification and absence of idler angular dispersion. A broadband angular-dispersion-free 2.15 μm idler pulse is generated as an experimental demonstration. We identify the potential of the scheme to generate a broadband 3.5 μm idler, with a bandwidth supporting a sub-two-cycle pulse. Due to the lack of mid-IR laser media, differencefrequency generation or optical parametric amplification (OPA) have been largely employed to down-convert visible or near-IR light sources [7][8][9][10]. It has been shown that mid-IR crystals such as LiIO 3 , KNbO 3 , and MgO:LiNbO 3 have group-velocity matched wavelengths, when pumped at 800 nm, between 950 nm and 1050 nm, and thus allow the direct generation of a broadband mid-IR idler with spectra supporting three-cycle pulses [7]. For wavelengths where signal and idler group velocities (V gs and V gi ) are not matched, a noncollinear geometry can be employed so that V gs V gi cos Ω. This achieves a broad phase-matching bandwidth at the cost of introducing idler angular dispersion [11]. It has been shown that once its angular dispersion is compensated, the idler can also be utilized for experiments [12].However, there is no guarantee that the condition of the traditional noncollinear OPA, i.e., V gs V gi cos Ω , can be satisfied and thus broadband amplification is sometimes prohibited. For example, when pumped at 1 μm, the condition cannot be fulfilled for all signal wavelengths below the degenerate wavelength in mid-IR crystals such as LiIO 3 , KNbO 3 , and MgO:LiNbO 3 . The same is true in lithium triborate (LBO) for signal wavelengths shorter than 720 nm, pumping at 523 nm. On the other hand, pumping at 1 μm or its second harmonic is advantageous for power and energy scalability because it is compatible with high-power ytterbium (Yb) fiber technology and high-energy Yb:YAG laser technology.In this Letter, we present a new scheme for direct generation of broadband, angular-dispersion-free mid-IR idler pulses when signal-idler group velocity matching cannot be achieved and the traditional noncollinear geometry fails to increase the phase-matching bandwidth. The conditions for broadband amplification and absence of idler angular dispersion can be fulfilled simultaneously by introducing not only noncollinear geometry but also signal angular dispersion. A broadband (1.8-2.4 μm), angular-dispersion-free idler pulse, which can be used to seed a 2.15 μm optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA) [6,13], is demonstrated as a proof of principle. Furthermore, we identify the potential of the scheme to generate a broadband 3.5 μm idler from a 1 μm ...

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Fully efficient adiabatic frequency conversion of broadband Ti:sapphire oscillator pulses

Cited by 41 publications

References 15 publications

Octave-spanning coherent mid-IR generation via adiabatic difference frequency conversion

Octave-spanning coherent mid-IR generation via adiabatic difference frequency conversion

Adiabatic sum-frequency generation in the visible region

Broadband noncollinear optical parametric amplification without angularly dispersed idler

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