Optical parametric oscillators and different frequency generators
Description
Optical parametric oscillators (OPO) are based on nonlinear frequency conversion of laser radiation into two coherent light waves with lower frequencies, called the signal (s) and idler waves (id).
An optical parametric oscillator consists of three basic components, namely the pump source, the gain medium, and the feedback resonator (in detail you can see here: Springer Handbook of Lasers and Optics, chapter 11).
The choice of the pump laser depends together with the selection of the nonlinear material on the required wavelength range and time resolution for a given application.
Most OPOs, however, are pumped with nanosecond pulses from a Q-switched laser, thus easily reaching the required light intensities inside the nonlinear material.
Typical emissions are nanosecond pulses in the near or mid-infrared region with pulse energies up to a few millijoules.
The selection of the nonlinear material depends on the nonlinear parametric process, the experimental design and the properties of the pump source.
Fundamentally, the nonlinear crystal should be distinguished by a broad transparency range, a high optical-damage threshold and large effective nonlinearity. An important parameter is the birefringence of the crystal that has to be high enough to maintain phase matching. For stable operation of OPO systems with high energies the thermo-mechanical and thermo-optical stability of the crystal should be sufficient. Finally, the crystals should be available in appropriate dimensions and excellent optical homogeneity. The most appropriate crystals are: AgGaS2, AgGaSe2, HgGa2S4, ZnGeP2, CdSiP2, BaGa4Se7, also oxide crystals PPLN, PPKTP, PPKTA and PPRTA.
The design of the feedback resonator is strongly connected to the output characteristic of the pump source.
Three types of feedback resonators are distinguished, depending on the number of resonating waves: singly resonant OPO (SRO), doubly resonant OPO (DRO), pump-enhanced SRO (PESRO), triply resonant OPOs (TRO).
From 2009 Special technologies, Ltd. are working on the development of OPO's and difference frequency generators (DFG) and devices based on them.
In 2013 Special technologies, Ltd. developed coherent radiation source based on nanosecond OPO's with tunability in spectral range 2.5 — 10.8 μm.
Specialist of Special technologies, Ltd. have an experience in the development of parametric frequency conversion in a variety of nonlinear crystals, namely: PPLN, PPKTP, AgGaS2, AgGaSe2, HgGa2S4, LiGaS2, LiGaSe2, LiInSe2, BaGa4S7, BaGa4Se7.
Optical parametric oscillators are powerful devices for the efficient generation of widely tunable coherent light. The intense research in OPOs has resulted in reliable OPO systems, which are commercially available. The tunability and the high output power define the optical parametric oscillator as an attractive source in many applications including high-resolution spectroscopy, environmental monitoring, medical research, process control, remote sensing and precision frequency measurements.
Applications:
— spectroscopy, including photo-acoustic spectroscopy;
— gas analysis, including gas analysis for medicine (exhaled air of patients), environmental and industrial monitoring;
— study of the dispersion properties of materials;
— laser surgery;
— laboratory research.
Papers
Boyko A., Schunemann P., Guha S., Kostyukova N., Kolker D., Panyutin V., Marchev G., Pasiskevicius V., Zukauskas A., Mayorov F., Petrov V. Optical parametric oscillator pumped at ~ 1 μm with intracavity mid-IR difference-frequency generation in OPGaAs // Opt. Mater. Express – 2018. – Vol. 8. – PP. 549-554
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/OME.8.000549
Kolker D. B., Kostyukova N. Yu., Boyko A. A., Badikov V. V., Badikov D. V., Shadrintseva A. G., Tretyakova N. N., Zenov K. G., Karapuzikov A. A., Zondy J.-J. Widely tunable (2.6 – 10.4 μm) BaGa4Se7 optical parametric oscillator pumped by a Q-switched Nd:YLiF4 laser // Journal of Physics Communications – 2018. – Vol. 2, № 3. – PP. 035039.
Boyko A. A., Kostyukova N. Y, Badikov V., Badikov D., Panyutin V., Shevyrdyaeva G., Pasiskevicius V., Zukauskas A., Marchev G.M., Kolker D., Petrov V. Intracavity Difference-Frequency Mixing of OPO Signal and Idler Pulses in BaGa4Se7 // in Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, OSA Technical Digest (online) (Optical Society of America, 2017) – 2017. – P. SM3M.7.
DOI: 10.1364/CLEO_SI.2017.SM3M.7
Boyko A., Kostyukova N., Guha S., Schunemann P. G., Marchev G., Panyutin V., Pasiskevicius V., Kolker D., Zukauskas A., and Petrov V. Rb:PPKTP Optical Parametric Oscillator with Intracavity Difference-Frequency Generation in Temperature-Tuned OPGaAs // in 2017 European Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and European Quantum Electronics Conference, (Optical Society of America, 2017), paper CD_P_43.
DOI: 10.1109/CLEOE-EQEC.2017.8086571
Zondy J.-J., Kolker D.B., Kostyukova N.Yu., Badikov V., Boyko A.A., Shadrintseva A., Tretyakova N.N., Zenov K.G., Karapuzikov A.A. Widely Tunable (2.2 - 10.4 μm) BaGa4Se7 Optical Parametric Oscillator Pumped by a Q-switched Nd:YLiF4 Laser // Proceeding of Advanced Solid State Lasers, 2017, Paper # AM2A.5
DOI: 10.1364/ASSL.2017.AM2A.5
Boyko A., Schunemann P., Kostyukova N., Guha S., Kolker D., Panyutin V., Marchev G., Petrov V. PPLN Optical Parametric Oscillator with Intracavity Difference-Frequency Generation in OPGaAs // Proceeding of Advanced Solid State Lasers, 2017, Paper # AM2A.2
DOI: 10.1364/ASSL.2017.AM2A.2
Boyko A. A., Kostyukova N. Y., Badikov V., Badikov D., Panyutin V., Shevyrdyaeva G., Pasiskevicius V., Zukauskas A., Marchev G.M., Kolker D., Petrov V.
Intracavity difference-frequency mixing of optical parametric oscillator signal and idler pulses in BaGa4Se7 // Applied Optics. - 2017. - Vol. 56, Issue 10. - Pp. 2783-2786
DOI: 10.1364/AO.56.002783
Kistenev Yu.V., Borisov A.V., Kuzmin D.A., Penkova O.V., Kostyukova N.Yu., Karapuzikov A.A. Exhaled air analysis using wideband wave number tuning range infrared laser photoacoustic spectroscopy // J. Biomed. Opt. - 2017. - 22 (1). - 017002
DOI:10.1117/1.JBO.22.1.017002
Kolker D.B., Sherstov I.V., Kostyukova N.Yu., Boyko A.A., Zenov K.G., Pustovalova R.V. Combined optical parametric oscillator with continuous tuning of radiation wavelength in the spectral range 2.5 – 10.8 μm (also in russian) // QUANTUM ELECTRON. - 2017. - V.47, No. 1. - P. 14–19
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1070/QEL16238
Petrov V., Kostyukova N.Yu., Boyko A.A., Marchev G.M., Pasiskevicius V., Zukauskas A., Kolker D.B. Cascaded intracavity frequency down-conversion of 1 μm laser radiation to the mid-IR // Conference proceedings, Advanced Laser Technologies (ALT) 2016 (Galway, Ireland, 12-16 September 2016).
Kostyukova N. Y., Boyko A. A., Badikov V., Badikov D., Shevyrdyaeva G., Panyutin V., Marchev G.M., Kolker D., Petrov V. Widely Tunable in the Mid-IR BaGa4Se7 Optical Parametric Oscillator Pumped at 1064 nm // Advanced Solid State Lasers. Boston, Massachusetts United States: OSA Technical Digest (online) (Optical Society of America, 30 October–3 November 2016). – 2016. – P. AW4A.2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/ASSL.2016.AW4A.2
Vedenyapin V., Boyko A.,Kolker D., Isaenko L., Lobanov S., Kostyukova N., Yelisseyev A., Zondy J-J., Petrov V. LiGaSe2 optical parametric oscillator pumped by a Q -switched Nd:YAG laser // Laser Phys. Lett. – 2016. – Vol. 13, Issue 11. – P. 115401.
DOI: 10.1088/1612-2011/13/11/115401
Kostyukova N., Boyko A., Marchev G., Kolker D., Zukauskas A., Pasiskevicius V., Petrov V. Rb:PPKTP Optical Parametric Oscillator with Intracavity Difference-Frequency Generation in AgGaSe2 // CLEO: Science and Innovations 2016 (San Jose, California United States, 5–10 June 2016). – 2016. STh1P.5.
https://doi.org/10.1364/CLEO_SI.2016.STh1P.5
Kostyukova N., Bobylev A., Boyko A., Zenov K., Shadrintseva A., Tretyakova N., Badikov V., Kolker D. Wide tunable BaGa4Se7 optical parametric oscillator pumped by Nd:YLF laser // 2016 International Conference Laser Optics (LO). IEEE – 2016. – P. R8-39-R8-39.
DOI: 10.1109/LO.2016.7549870
Boyko A.A., Marchev G. M., Petrov V., Pasiskevicius V., Kolker D. B., Zukauskas A., Kostyukova N. Y. Intracavity-Pumped, Cascaded AgGaSe2 Optical Parametric Oscillator Tunable up to 18 μm // CONFERENCE PAPER of High-Brightness Sources and Light-Driven Interactions (EUV, HILAS, MICS), MS4C.4, 2016 (Long Beach, California United States, 20-22 March 2016).
DOI: http://doi.org/10.1364/MICS.2016.MS4C.4
Kostyukova N. Y., Boyko A.A., Badikov V., Badikov D., Shevyrdyaeva G., Panyutin V., Marchev G.M., Kolker D.B., Petrov V. Widely tunable in the mid-IR BaGa4Se7 optical parametric oscillator pumped at 1064 nm // Optics Letters. – 2016. – Vol. 41, Issue 15. – Pp. 3667-3670
DOI: 10.1364/OL.41.003667
Boyko A.A., Kostyukova N. Y., Marchev G. M., Pasiskevicius V., Kolker D. B., Zukauskas A., Petrov V. Rb:PPKTP optical parametric oscillator with intracavity difference-frequency generation in AgGaSe2 // Optics Letters. – 2016. – Vol. 41, Issue 12. – pp. 2791-2794
DOI: 10.1364/OL.41.002791
Kistenev Y.V.; Borisov A.V.; Kuzmin D. A.; Bulanova A. A.; Boyko A. A.; Kostyukova N. Y.; Karapuzikov A. A. Breath air measurement using wide-band frequency tuning IR laser photo-acoustic spectroscopy // Proc. SPIE 9707, Dynamics and Fluctuations in Biomedical Photonics XIII, 97070M (March 17, 2016)
DOI:10.1117/12.2214645
Kostyukova N.Y., Kolker D. B., Zenov K. G., Boyko A. A., Starikova M. K., Sherstov I.V., Karapuzikov A. A. Mercury thiogallate nanosecond optical parametric oscillator continuously tunable from 4.2 to 10.8 μm // Laser Phys. Lett. – 2015. – Vol. 12, Issue 9. – P. 95401.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1612-2011/12/9/095401
Kostyukova N. Y.; Boyko A. A.; Zenov K. G.; Starikova M. K.; Kolker D. B.; Karapuzikov А. А.; Kistenev Yu. V.; Kuzmin D. A. Twin HgGa2S4 optical parametric oscillator at 4.3-10.78 μm for biomedical applications // Proc. SPIE 9448, Saratov Fall Meeting 2014: Optical Technologies in Biophysics and Medicine XVI; Laser Physics and Photonics XVI; and Computational Biophysics, 944806 (March 19, 2015)
DOI: 10.1117/12.2181802
Kistenev Y. V., Karapuzikov A. I., Kostyukova N. Yu., Starikova M. K., Boyko A. A., Bukreeva E. B., Bulanova A. A., Kolker D. B., Kuzmin D. A., Zenov K. G., Karapuzikov A. A. Screening of patients with bronchopulmonary diseases using methods of infrared laser photoacoustic spectroscopy and principal component analysis // J. Biomed. Opt. - 2015. - Vol. 20(6). - P. 065001.
DOI:10.1117/1.JBO.20.6.065001
Boyko A.A., Marchev G. M., Petrov V., Pasiskevicius V., Kolker D. B., Zukauskas A., Kostyukova N. Y. Intracavity-Pumped, Cascaded Mid-IR Optical Parametric Oscillator Based on AgGaSe2 // Proceeding of Internatinal Conference Advance Solid State laser 2015, ASSL, 2015, ATh2A (October 2015)
Boyko A.A., Marchev G. M., Petrov V., Pasiskevicius V., Kolker D. B., Zukauskas A., Kostyukova N. Y. Intracavity-pumped, cascaded AgGaSe2 optical parametric oscillator tunable from 5.8 to 18 μm // Optics Express. – 2015. – Vol. 23; 26. – 33460-33465
Karapuzikov A.A., Sherstov I.V., Kolker D.B., Karapuzikov A.I., Kistenev Yu. V., Kuzmin D.A., Styrov M. Yu., Dukhovnikova N. Yu., Zenov K.G., Boyko A.A., Starikova M.K., Tikhonyuk I.I., Miroshnichenko I.B., Miroshnichenko M.B., Myakishev Yu. V., Loconov V.N. LaserBreeze gas analyzer for noninvasive diagnostics of air exhaled by patients // Physics wave of phenomena. - 2014. - Vol. 22, No. 3. - P. 189-196
DOI: 10.3103/S1541308X14030054
Kolker D. B., Boyko A. A., Dukhovnikova N. Yu. , Zenov K. G., Sherstov I. V., Starikova M. K., Miroshnichenko I. B., Miroshnichenko M. B., Kashtanov D. A., Kuznetsova I. B., Shtyrov M. Yu., Zachariadis S., Karapuzikov A. I., Karapuzikov A. A., Lokonov V. N. Continuously wavelength tuned optical parametric oscillator based on fan-out periodically poled lithium niobate // Instruments and Experimental Techniques. – 2014. – №57, 1. – С. 50-54
Marchev G., Reza M., Badikov V., Esteban-Martin A., Stöppler G., Starikova M., Badikov D., Panyutin V., Eichhorn M., Shevyrdyaeva G., Tyazhev A., Sheina S., Agnesi A., Fintisova A., and Petrov V. HgGa2S4-based RISTRA OPO pumped at 1064 nm // Optics InfoBase conference paper CLEO: QELS Fundamental Science San Jose, California United States June 8-13, 2014 – Page JTu4A.113.
DOI: 10.1364/CLEO_AT.2014.JTu4A.113
Marchev G., Reza M., Badikov V., Esteban-Martin A., Stöppler G., Starikova M., Badikov D., Panyutin V., Eichhorn M., Shevyrdyaeva G., Tyazhev A., Sheina S., Agnesi A., Fintisova A., and Petrov V. Mid-infrared rotated image singly resonant twisted rectangle optical parametric oscillator based on HgGa2S4 pumped at 1064 nm // Applied Optics. - 2014. - Vol. 53, Issue 33. - Pp. 7951-7962
DOI: 10.1364/AO.53.007951
Kolker D.B., Boyko A.A., Dukhovnikova N.Yu., Zenov K., Sherstov I.V., Starikova M., Karapuzikov A.I., Karapuzikov A.A. Experimental test of fan-out MgO:PPLN structures // The 8 international forum on strategic technology IFOST 2013 proceedings. 2013. - P. 271-273
Petrov V.; Marchev G.; Tyazhev A.; Beutler M.; Panyutin V.; Starikova M.; Esteban-Martin A.; Badikov V.; Shevyrdyaeva G.; Badikov D.; Sheina S., Fintisova A. Optical damage studies of mercury thiogallate nonlinear crystals for use in 1-μm pumped optical parametric oscillators // Opt. Eng. 52(11), 117102 (Nov 18, 2013).
DOI:10.1117/1.OE.52.11.117102
Kolker D.B., Starikova M.K., Boyko A.A., Dukhovnikova N.Yu. OPO cavity design for a 2.6–5.9 μm IR radiation source // Russian Physics Journal. – 2013. – Vol. 56, Issue 2. – P. 220-224
DOI: 10.1007/s11182-013-0018-4
Tyazhev A., Vedenyapin V., Marchev G., Isaenko L., Kolker D., Lobanov S., Petrov V., Yelisseyev A., Starikova M., Zondy J.-J. Singly-resonant optical parametric oscillation based on the wind band-gap mid-IR nonlinear optical crystal LiGaS2 // Optical materials. – 2013. – Vol. 35. – P. 1612-1615
DOI: 10.1016/j.optmat.2013.03.016
Kolker D.B., Sherstov I.V., Karapuzikov A.I., Karapuzikov A.A., Boyko A.A., Starikova M.K., Dukhovnikova N.Yu., Loconov V.N., Shtyrov M.Yu., Miroshnichenko I.B., Zenov K.G., Miroshnichenko M.B. PAD spectrometer based on wide tunable optical parametric oscillator for noninvasive medical diagnostics // Optics and Photonics Journal. – 2013. – Vol. 3; № 2 B. – P.43-46.
Petrov V., Tyazhev A., Marchev G., Esteban-Martin A., Badikov V., Badikov D., Panyutin V., Shevyrdyaeva G., Sheina S., Fintisova A., Starikova M. High-power, mid-IR HgGa2S4 OPOs pumped at 1064 nm // Nonlinear Optics Technical Digest. – OSA 2013. – Ntu2B.5
Petrov V.; Marchev G.; Tyazhev A.; Starikova M.; Esteban-Martin A., Panyutin V., Shevyrdyaeva G., Badikov D., Reza M., Sheina S., Fintisova A. Optical damage limits in chalcogenide nonlinear crystals used in 1064 nm pumped nanosecond optical parametric oscillators // Proc. SPIE 8786, Optical Materials for High Power Lasers Pacific Rim Laser Damage 2013:, 878603 (July 9, 2013; 20 pages).
DOI:10.1117/12.2020355
Esteban-Martin A., Marchev G., Badikov V., Panyutin V., Petrov V., Shevyrdyaeva G., Badikov D., Starikova M., Sheina S., Fintisova A., Tyazhev A. High-energy optical parametric oscillator for the 6 μm spectral range based on HgGa2S4 pumped at 1064 nm // Laser and photonics Reviews. 2013. – Vol.7; No.6. – P. L89-L92
DOI: 10.1002/lpor.201300102
Esteban-Martin A., Marchev G., Badikov V., Panyutin V., Petrov V., Shevyrdyaeva G., Badikov D., Starikova M., Sheina S., Fintisova A., Tyazhev A. High-energy 1064-nm pumped optical parametric oscillator for the 6 μm spectral range based on HgGa2S4 // in Advanced Solid-State Lasers Congress, M. Ebrahim-Zadeh and I. Sorokina, eds., OSA Technical Digest (online) (Optical Society of America, 2013), paper MW3B.3.
Dukhovnikova N.Y., Kolker D.B., Starikova M.K., Boiko A.A., Osokin A.S. IR-range coherent radiation source based on parametric light generator // 11th International Conference on Actual Problems of Electronic Instrument Engineering, APEIE 2012 - Proceedings P. 41 – 43
DOI: 10.1109/APEIE.2012.6629022
Kolker D.B., Pustovalova R.V., Starikova M.K., Karapuzikov A.I., Karapuzikov A.A., Kuznetsov O.M., Kistenev Yu. V. Optical parametric oscillator within 2.4-4.3 μm pumped with a nanosecond Nd:YAG laser // Atmospheric and Oceanic Optics. – 2012. – Vol. 25. – No. 1. – P.77-81
Kolker D.B., Pustovalova R.V., Starikova M.K., Karapuzikov A.I., Karapuzikov A.A., Kuznetsov O.M., Kistenev Yu. V. A nanosecond optical parametric oscillator in the mid-IR region with double-pass pumping // Instruments and Experimental techniques. – 2012. – Vol. 55. – No. 2. – P.263-267
DOI: 10.1134/S0020441212010174
Kolker D., Starikova M., Boyko A., Dukhovnikova N., Karapuzikov A., Osokin A. Nanosecond optical parametric oscillator in the mid IR range with a two-pass pumping is based on the crystal AgGaS2 // В сборнике: Proceedings – 2012 7th International Forum on Strategic Technology, IFOST 2012. – С. 6357790.
DOI: 10.1109/IFOST.2012.6357790
Tyazhev A., Vedenyapin V., Marchev G., Yelisseyev A., Isaenko L., Starikova M., Lobanov S., Petrov V. Mid-IR optical parametric oscillator based on LiGaS2 // (2011) 2011 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe and 12th European Quantum Electronics Conference, CLEO EUROPE/EQEC 2011
DOI: 10.1109/CLEOE.2011.5942751
Experiments
