Short pulsed fiber laser pumped mid-IR optical parametric sources

5^th International Conference and Exhibition on Lasers, Optics & Photonics

November 28-30, 2016 Atlanta, USA

Lin Xu

University of Southampton, UK

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Laser Opt Photonics

Abstract :

Tunable sources of short laser pulses in the mid-IR are useful for a number of spectroscopic and material processing applications due to the presence of characteristic vibrational absorptions of organic materials in this spectral region. Optical parametric processes offer an effective route for frequency down-conversion of readily available near-IR sources to longer mid-IR wavelengths. Advances in fiber laser technology have greatly extended the range of achievable output powers and energies, raising them to levels suitable for pumping parametric devices. Here, we report a high-energy picosecond optical parametric generator/amplifier (OPG/A) based on a MgO:PPLN crystal pumped by a fiber master-oscillator-power-amplifier employing direct amplification. An OPG tuning range of 1450-3615 nm is demonstrated with pulse energies as high as 2.6 �¼J (signal) and 1.2 �¼J (idler). When seeded with a narrow spectral bandwidth laser source, the output spectra are narrowed and maximum pulse energies of 3.8 �¼J (signal) and 1.7 �¼J (idler) are obtained at an overall conversion efficiency of 45%. We also demonstrate a compact high-energy, mid-IR, picosecond opticalparametric oscillator employing a high-harmonic-cavity. With a cavity that is just a small fraction of the length required to match the pump repetition rate, signal pulses with a repetition rate that is the 193rd harmonic of the 1-MHz pump repetition rate are realized. Pumped by 11-�¼J, 150-ps pulses at 1035 nm idler output pulse energies as high as 1.5 �¼J have been achieved. The overall photon conversion efficiency reaches 43%, and the idler wavelength can be tuned from 2300 to 3500 nm.

Biography :

Email: l.xu@soton.ac.uk