Volume Bragg Grating Output Coupler Research Articles

Compact Efficient 2.1-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula>m Intracavity MgO:PPLN OPO With a VBG Output Coupler

We present a compact efficient intracavity MgO:PPLN optical parametric oscillator (OPO) with a volume Bragg grating output coupler pumped by a Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser operating in 2.1- $\mu $ m region. Narrowband 2.1- $\mu $ m output power of 3.7 W is achieved with a pulse duration $\mu $ m is obtained at 17.5-W LD pump power. The 2.1- $\mu $ m beam quality factors $M^{2}$ of 1.85 and 2.37 in horizontal and vertical directions are obtained. To the best of our knowledge, the efficiency is the highest ever achieved from an intracavity OPO in 2- $\mu $ m region.

High-efficiency near-degenerate PPMgLN optical parametric oscillator with a volume Bragg grating

We demonstrate a high-efficiency near-degenerate periodically poled MgO:LiNbO(3) (PPMgLN) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) using a volume Bragg grating (VBG) output coupler (OC) pumped by a multilongitudinal Q-switched Nd:YVO(4) laser at 20 kHz repetition rate. A total parametric power of 4.3 W with a conversion efficiency of 60% is achieved in a double-pass pump configuration. The output power improvement over the case of a single-pass pump is nearly 60%. Both the signal and the idler bandwidths are less than 40 GHz and are confined within 170 GHz bandwidth at 2128.8 nm. Such efficiency is, to our knowledge, the highest ever achieved from a degenerate OPO using a VBG OC.

Narrow-band, tunable 2 μm optical parametric oscillator based on MgO:PPLN at degeneracy with a volume Bragg grating output coupler

A degenerate optical parametric oscillator (OPO) using an MgO:PPLN crystal and a volume Bragg grating (VBG) output coupler is presented. By changing the temperature of the VBG, the resonance of the OPO can be tuned exactly on the degeneracy point. A single-longitudinal and a multi-longitudinal mode pump scheme as well as the performance of the optical parametric oscillator on and off degeneracy are compared. It was found that the multi-longitudinal mode pump setup provides superior results with respect to spectral width and stability at degeneracy. At 2128.4 nm, a spectral width of less than 0.7 nm, an output power of 1.7 W with a slope efficiency of 31.8%, and low power fluctuation of 0.3% were achieved.

Cavity length resonances in a nanosecond singly resonant optical parametric oscillator

Resonant output energy enhancement in a singly resonant nondegenerate type-I optical parametric oscillator with a volume Bragg grating output coupler is demonstrated. The resonances occur when the pump laser and parametric oscillator cavity length ratio is an integer or a fraction of small integers. Although the length resonances are similar to those observed in doubly resonant optical parametric oscillators, the physical mechanism is distinctly different. The resonances in the singly resonant oscillator are caused by correlation of the instantaneous power between the quasi-periodic multimode pump laser beam and the OPO signal.

Enhancing performances of a passively Q-switched Nd:YAG∕Cr^4+:YAG microlaser with a volume Bragg grating output coupler

A diode end-pumped Nd:YAG microlaser passively Q-switched by Cr(4+):YAG with performances controlled by a volume Bragg grating (VBG) output coupler has been developed. Compared with operation at room temperature, the Q-switched laser pulse energy was increased, by a factor of 2 or more, by elevating the Nd:YAG temperature and locking the wavelength of emission with the VBG. Furthermore, the emission wavelength was tuned over 0.7 nm bandwidth by changing the VBG temperature while maintaining laser pulses of millijoule-level energy and short (less than 4 ns) duration.

Narrow linewidth 2 μm optical parametric oscillation in periodically poled LiNbO3 with volume Bragg grating outcoupler

An optical parametric oscillator using a periodically poled LiNbO3 crystal and a volume Bragg grating output coupler is presented. Signal and idler wavelengths of 2008 and 2264 nm were generated fr ...