Widely tunable, near- to mid-infrared femtosecond and picosecond optical parametric oscillators using periodically poled LiNbO/sub 3/ and RbTiOAsO/sub 4

We describe the operation and characterization of Ti:sapphire laser-pumped femtosecond and picosecond optical parametric oscillators based the new quasi-phase-matched nonlinear materials of periodically poled LiNbO/sub 3/ and RbTiOAsO/sub 4/ with broad tunability in the near- to mid-infrared. We dis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIEEE journal of selected topics in quantum electronics Vol. 4; no. 2; pp. 238 - 248
Main Authors Reid, D.T., Kennedy, G.T., Miller, A., Sibbett, W., Ebrahimzadeh, M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.03.1998
Subjects
Birefringence
Diodes
Nonlinear optics
Optical materials
Optical pulses
Optical pumping
Oscillators
Power generation
Tunable circuits and devices
Ultrafast optics
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Summary:We describe the operation and characterization of Ti:sapphire laser-pumped femtosecond and picosecond optical parametric oscillators based the new quasi-phase-matched nonlinear materials of periodically poled LiNbO/sub 3/ and RbTiOAsO/sub 4/ with broad tunability in the near- to mid-infrared. We discuss the merits of the two materials for use in ultrafast optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) and compare and contrast their properties to the birefringent materials. We demonstrate an extended spectral coverage from <1 /spl mu/m to >5 /spl mu/m, pump power thresholds as low as 45 mW, average mid-infrared output powers in excess of 100 mW, and pulse durations of 100-200 fs and 1-2 ps at /spl sim/80 MHz repetition rate. We also report the efficient operation of Ti:sapphire-pumped femtosecond OPOs in all-solid-state configurations by utilizing diode-laser-based input pump sources.
ISSN:1077-260X
1558-4542
DOI:10.1109/2944.686729