Self‐phase‐locked degenerate femtosecond optical parametric oscillator based on BiB3O6

Abstract

AbstractA self‐phase‐locked degenerate femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on the birefringent nonlinear material, bismuth triborate, BiB3O6, synchronously‐pumped by a Kerr‐lens‐mode‐locked Ti:sapphire laser at 800 nm is described. By exploiting versatile phase‐matching properties of BiB3O6, including large spectral and angular acceptance for parametric generation and low group velocity dispersion in the optical xz plane, stable self‐phase‐locked degenerate OPO operation centered at 1600 nm is demonstrated using collinear type I (e → oo) interaction in a 1.5‐mm crystal at room temperature.The degenerate OPO output spectrum extends over 46 nm (∼5.4 THz) with 190 fs pulse duration for input pump pulses of 155 fs with a bandwidth of 7 nm. Phase coherence between the pump and degenerate output is verified using f‐2f interferometry, and discrete frequency beats caused by different carrier‐envelope‐offset frequencies are measured using radio frequency measurements.Photo shows a 1.5‐mm BiB3O6 crystal used as a nonlinear gain medium in a degenerate self‐phase‐locked femtosecond OPO operating at room temperature. The green beam is the result of non‐phase‐matched sum‐frequency mixing between the pump light and the sub‐harmonic OPO field at degeneracy.