Spectral line narrowing in PPLN OPO devices for 1-µm wavelength doubling

Brian J. Perrett; Jonathan A. C. Terry; Paul D. Mason; David A. Orchard

doi:10.1117/12.577521

23 December 2004 Spectral line narrowing in PPLN OPO devices for 1-μm wavelength doubling

Brian J. Perrett, Jonathan A. C. Terry, Paul D. Mason, David A. Orchard

Proceedings Volume 5620, Solid State Laser Technologies and Femtosecond Phenomena; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.577521
Event: European Symposium on Optics and Photonics for Defence and Security, 2004, London, United Kingdom

Abstract

One route to generating mid-infrared (mid-IR) radiation is through a two-stage non-linear conversion process from the near-IR, exploiting powerful neodymium lasers operating at wavelengths close to 1 μm. In the first stage of this process non-linear conversion within a degenerate optical parametric oscillator (OPO) is used to double the wavelength of the 1 μm laser. The resultant 2 μm radiation is then used to pump a second OPO, based on a material such as ZGP, for conversion into the 3 to 5 μm mid-IR waveband. Periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) is a useful material for conversion from 1 to 2 μm due to its high non-linear coefficient (d_eff ~ 16 pm/V) and the long crystal lengths available (up to 50 mm). Slope efficiencies in excess of 40% have readily been achieved using a simple plane-plane resonator when pumped at 10 kHz with 3.5 mJ pulses from a 1.047 μm Nd:YLF laser. However, the OPO output was spectrally broad at degeneracy with a measured full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) linewidth of approximately 65 nm. This output linewidth is significantly broader than the spectral acceptance bandwidth of ZGP for conversion into the mid-IR. In this paper techniques for spectral narrowing the output from a degenerate PPLN OPO are investigated using two passive elements, a diffraction grating and an air spaced etalon. Slope efficiencies approaching 20% have been obtained using the grating in a dog-leg cavity configuration producing spectrally narrow 2 μm output with linewidths as low as 2 nm. A grating-narrowed degenerate PPLN OPO has been successfully used to pump a ZGP OPO.

Citation Download Citation

Brian J. Perrett, Jonathan A. C. Terry, Paul D. Mason, and David A. Orchard "Spectral line narrowing in PPLN OPO devices for 1-μm wavelength doubling", Proc. SPIE 5620, Solid State Laser Technologies and Femtosecond Phenomena, (23 December 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.577521

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available