GaAs Optical Parametric Oscillator Research Articles

Coherence properties of a 2.6-7.5 μm frequency comb produced as a subharmonic of a Tm-fiber laser.

We study the temporal coherence of an ultrabroadband frequency comb produced in a degenerate GaAs optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a stabilized Tm-fiber comb, by observing multiheterodyne beats in the RF domain. We infer that in such a regime the OPO automatically produces a stable frequency comb that is phase and frequency locked to the pump. By varying intracavity dispersion, we achieve a comb spanning 2.6-7.5 μm at a -20 dB level. Low pump threshold (down to 7 mW), high average power (up to 73 mW), broad spectral coverage, flat spectrum, and high coherence make this comb a source suitable for various applications, foremost dual-comb molecular spectroscopy.

Midinfrared frequency comb from self-stable degenerate GaAs optical parametric oscillator.

We pump a degenerate frequency-divide-by-two optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on orientation-patterned GaAs with a stable Tm frequency comb at 2 micrometer wavelength and measure the OPO comb offset frequency and linewidth. We show frequency division by two with sub-Hz relative linewidth of the comb teeth. The OPO thermally self-stabilizes and oscillates for nearly an hour without any active control.

Cr:ZnS laser-pumped subharmonic GaAs optical parametric oscillator with the spectrum spanning 36–56 μm

Using a subharmonic optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on orientation-patterned GaAs, we produced a broadband instantaneous output that spans 3.6-5.6 μm at 50-dB level (4.4-5.2 μm at 3 dB level), has 110 mW of average power, and is suitable for producing wideband-frequency combs in the mid-infrared. The OPO was synchronously pumped by a compact Kerr-lens mode-locked femtosecond Cr:ZnS oscillator with the central wavelength 2.38 μm and pulse repetition frequency 175 MHz.

Grating tunable 4 - 14 µm GaAs optical parametric oscillator pumped at 3 µm

We demonstrate a broadly and continuously tunable optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on orientation-patterned GaAs (OP-GaAs) operating at 2 kHz repetition rate. With the choice of the pump wavelength near λ = 3 µm, we were able to achieve tunable output in the whole range of 4-14.2 µm with a linewidth between 2 and 6 cm(-1), using a single OP-GaAs structure with a domain reversal period of 150 µm. The OPO output was tuned using (i) an intracavity diffraction grating, and (ii) fine adjustment of the pump wavelength near 3 µm. In certain portions of the spectrum this system potentially allows fast (sub-millisecond scale) wavelength tuning over > 2500 nm by fast steering the diffraction grating at a fixed pump wavelength.

Carrier envelope offset frequency of a doubly resonant, nondegenerate, mid-infrared GaAs optical parametric oscillator

We measure the carrier envelope offset (CEO) frequency of the mid-infrared frequency comb (wavelength tunable between 3 and 6μm) from a doubly resonant nondegenerate synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator (SPOPO) as a function of the CEO frequency of the Tm-fiber pump laser. We show that the CEO frequency of the SPOPO signal wave is a linear function of the CEO frequency of the pump laser, with a slope determined by the signal to pump center-frequency ratio.

Mid-IR frequency comb source spanning 44–54 μm based on subharmonic GaAs optical parametric oscillator

Broadband mid-IR output suitable for producing 1000-nm-wide frequency combs centered at 4.9 μm was achieved in a degenerate subharmonic optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on 500-μm-long Brewster-angled orientation-patterned GaAs crystal. The OPO was synchronously pumped at 182 MHz repetition rate by 100 fs pulses from a Cr²⁺:ZnSe laser with the central wavelength of 2.45 μm and the average power of 100 mW.

High-efficiency 20–50 kHz mid-infrared orientation-patterned GaAs optical parametric oscillator pumped by a 2 μm holmium laser

We report on what are, to our knowledge, the best results obtained with an orientation-patterned GaAs optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a Q-switched 2 microm Ho:YAG laser. Up to 2.85 W are obtained for 6.1 W of pump power, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 46.5% with a threshold of 1 W. Optical damage occurred at a fluence of about 2 J/cm2. The thickness of the crystal limited the pump power. Slope efficiencies are of the same order as those obtained with ZnGeP2 OPOs pumped with the same Ho:YAG laser.

GaAs optical parametric oscillator with circularly polarized and depolarized pump

We demonstrate an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on GaAs pumped with linearly polarized and circularly polarized light and show that the relative OPO thresholds agree with theoretical expectations. For the circularly polarized pump, the threshold was as low as for the [111]-linearly polarized pump case. The pump was also passed through a Lyot depolarizer to produce pseudo-depolarized light, and the OPO threshold in this case was only 22% higher than that for [001]-linearly polarized pump.