Frequency comb generation from the ultraviolet to mid-infrared region based on a three-stage cascaded PPLN chain

Abstract

Optical frequency combs (OFCs) have enabled significant opportunities for high-precision frequency metrology and high-resolution broadband spectroscopy. Although nonlinear photonics chips have the capacity of frequency expansion for OFCs, most of them can only access the limited bandwidths in the partial infrared region, and it is still hard to satisfy many measurement applications in the ultraviolet-to-visible region. Here, we demonstrate a compact broadband OFC scheme via the combination of three χ(2) nonlinearities in a three-stage periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) chain. With a supercontinuum spectrum OFC delivered into the PPLN chain, the intra-pulse diffidence frequency generation, optical parametric amplification, and high-order harmonic generation were carried out in sequence. It is crucial that the harmonics of the 1st–10th orders are simultaneously obtained with an offset-free OFC spectrum from 0.35 to 4.0 μm. In view of the great potential for integration and spectral expansion, this wideband frequency comb source will open a new insight for the valuable applications of two-dimensional material analysis, biofluorescence microscopy, and nonlinear amplitude-phase metrology.