Multifunctional solid state lasers based on ferroelectric crystals

Hybrid Plasmonic–Ferroelectric Architectures for Lasing and SHG Processes at the Nanoscale

“…The study of the optical properties of RE 3+ ion doped materials has constituted an intense research topic leading to relevant applications such as solid‐state lasers, phosphors, displays, or even quantum memories . Moreover, manipulating their optical properties at the nanoscale allows a further increase of their functionality in different strategic areas.…”

“…Since the discovery of SHG in 1961, bulk ferroelectric systems have been widely used to produce coherent radiation in spectral regions poorly covered by conventional lasers. They have been also relevant to implement multifunctional operation on monolithic NL solid‐state lasers . Some recent applications include the generation of entangled photon pairs for quantum information, all‐optical polarization switching devices, or multiphoton and multidirectional devices by means of 2D domain patterned ferroelectrics .…”

“…On the other hand, the noncentrosymmetric crystal structure of ferroelectrics enables the generation of quadratic frequency conversion processes, which makes these systems useful as frequency doublers and optical parametric oscillators . Further, the possibility of some ferroelectric crystals to host luminescent trivalent RE 3+ ions, from which laser action can be achieved, is an additional advantage exploited in the context of this work . In fact, some of the materials that will be the subject of discussion in this report constitute true solid‐state lasers due to the incorporation of optically active ions such as Nd 3+ or Yb 3+ during the crystal growth.…”

“…On the other hand, NL frequency conversion processes constitute a common route to generate coherent radiation in spectral regions not covered by lasers. They have also assisted the implementation of multiple operation on NL solid‐state gain media, thereby improving the compactness of the devices. However, at nanoscopic dimensions, the performance of frequency conversion processes undergoes fundamental limitations mainly related to the efficiency of the NL process itself, which is associated with the interaction length of the participating waves.…”

Two dimensional ferroelectric domain patterns in Yb3+ optically active LiNbO3 fabricated by direct electron beam writing

“…In the last years, the use of ferroelectric crystals as host matrices for laser ions has emerged as an alternative to develop multifunctional solid state lasers capable to generate infrared laser action and simultaneously visible radiation by self-frequency conversion processes. 4 Further, by using photochemical methods, metallic silver nanoparticles were deposited on an Nd 3þ doped periodically poled LiNbO 3 crystal, to produce periodic intensification of both the nonlinear response and the spontaneous emission of Nd 3þ ions. 5 Nevertheless, despite the potential of these systems, the control of ferroelectric domain engineering in optically active ferroelectric crystals still remains challenging, particularly when the ferroelectric patterning is extended to two dimensional (2D) geometries.…”