Search Results (7)

A high-power and high-repetition KTiOAsO₄ (KTA) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) was established in this study, with the adoption of plane-parallel and ring cavities. The pump was a high-power Nd:YAG master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system with a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 300 Hz, and the corresponding beam quality factors were M_x² = 3.4 and M_y² = 3.2. In the plane-parallel cavity experiment, powers of 51.1 W (170 mJ) and 15.9 W (53 mJ) in the signal and idler were obtained, respectively. In terms of the average power of 1 μm of a pumped KTA OPO, to our knowledge, this is the highest average power for KTA OPO. The ring cavity was constructed to achieve lasers with both high power and beam quality. The output powers of the ring cavities for the signal and idler were 33.9 W (113 mJ) and 8.7 W (29 mJ), respectively, and the corresponding beam quality factors of the signal were M_x² = 5.3 and M_y² = 7.9. The 300 Hz 100 mJ class 1.54 μm laser with a beam quality factor of less than 10 is an ideal eye-safe light detection and ranging (LiDAR) source. Full article

We present the modeling and experimental characterization of a room-temperature, sub-nanosecond, gain-switched (GS) Fe:ZnSe laser operating at 4.4–4.8 μm. As pump sources, we used a 2.79 µm Q-switched Cr:Er:YSGG laser with a pulse duration of 52 ns and the 2.98 μm idler of a Nd:YAG pumped KTA-OPO system with a pulse duration of 9 ns. The shortest pulse durations were measured to be 1.4 ns and 0.7 ns under excitation by the Cr:Er:YSGG laser and KTA-OPO system, respectively. The developed Fe:ZnSe laser model showed good agreement with the experimental results. Optimization of the laser parameters based on model simulations suggests that an Fe:ZnSe microchip laser configuration could be achieved with a pulse duration of ~250 ps and an efficiency of ~20%. Full article

In this paper, a high energy 3.5 μm mid-infrared (MIR) burst-mode KTA optical parametric oscillator (OPO) was demonstrated. Utilizing a quasi-continuous wave (QCW) laser diode (LD) side-pump module and electro-optic (EO) Q-switching technique, a high beam quality 1064 nm burst-mode laser was achieved as the fundamental source, generating 30 mJ high-energy pulses at burst repetition rates of 100 Hz and 200 Hz with sub-burst repetition rates of 20 kHz, 40 kHz, and 50 kHz. The KTA-OPO produced a 3.5 μm MIR burst-mode laser output with 4 to 11 sub-pulses per pulse envelope. The output energies were 2.9 mJ, 2.81 mJ, and 2.79 mJ at 100 Hz, as well as 2.8 mJ, 2.75 mJ, and 2.72 mJ at 200 Hz, with corresponding conversion efficiencies of 9.6%, 9.3%, and 9.3% at 100 Hz, as well as 9.3%, 9.2%, and 9.1% at 200 Hz, respectively. Our results pave a new way for generating burst-mode MIR lasers. Full article

Herein, we present a picosecond-pulsed optical vortex parametric oscillator capable of generating high-power, narrow-linewidth near- and mid-infrared optical vortex outputs. The optical parametric oscillator (OPO), consisting of a KTiOAsO₄ (KTA) crystal and a Z-shaped standing wave cavity formed by five mirrors, transferred the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of the pump field to the signal and idler fields. The transmission mechanism of the OAM within the signal singly resonantsingly-resonant KTA-OPO was investigated, and the OAM was controlled and selectively transferred among the pump, signal, and idler fields by adjusting the focus position of the pump beam on the KTA crystal. With an incident pump power of 17 W, the maximum average output power was 2.14 W at 1535 nm (signal vortex field) and 0.95 W at 3468 nm (idler vortex field), respectively, corresponding to optical conversion efficiencies of 20.8% and 9.2%. The spectral linewidths of the signal and idler vortex fields were 0.502 nm and 1.216 nm, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first instance of a picosecond-pulsed optical vortex parametric oscillator with a KTA crystal. Full article

The synthesis of 2D MoWS₂ nanosheets involved the liquid-phase exfoliation technique was explored in this paper. The nonlinear optical response of MoWS₂ was characterized in the 1 µm wavelength range, and its suitability as a saturable absorber (SA) was confirmed. Experimental demonstrations were conducted by using MoWS₂ as an SA in an idler-resonant intracavity KTA optical parametric oscillator (OPO) driven by a dual-loss-modulated Q-switched and mode-locked (QML) YVO₄/Nd:YVO₄ laser with an acousto-optic modulator (AOM). By appropriately tuning the pump power and the AOM repetition rate, the Q-switched envelope pulse widths for the signal and idler waves could be significantly reduced to be shorter than the cavity round-trip transit time, i.e., the interval between two neighboring mode-locking pulses. Consequently, this enabled the generation of sub-nanosecond single mode-locking pulses with a low repetition rate, high pulse energy, and remarkable stability. With a repetition rate of 1 kHz and maximal pulse energies of 318 µJ and 169 µJ, respectively, sub-nanosecond single mode-locking pulses of the signal and idler waves were generated. The theoretical model was established using coupled rate equations with a Gaussian spatial distribution approximation. The numerical simulation results for generating sub-nanosecond single mode-locking pulses for the signal and idler waves within their respective Q-switched envelopes aligned fundamentally with the experimental results, proving that MoWS₂ can be a potential nanomaterial for further optoelectronic applications. Full article

We study the DC conductivity in potassium titanyl phosphate (KTiOPO₄, KTP) and its isomorphs KTiOAsO₄ (KTA) and Rb_1%K_99%TiOPO₄ (RKTP) and introduce a method by which to reduce the overall ionic conductivity in KTP by a potassium nitrate treatment. Furthermore, we create so-called gray tracking in KTP and investigate the ionic conductivity in theses areas. A local unintended reduction of the ionic conductivity is observed in the gray-tracked regions, which also induce additional optical absorption in the material. We show that a thermal treatment in an oxygen-rich atmosphere removes the gray tracking and brings the ionic conductivity as well as the optical transmission back to the original level. These studies can help to choose the best material and treatment for specific applications. Full article

A differential absorption lidar (DIAL) system designed on the basis of optical parametric oscillators (OPO) with nonlinear KTiOAsO₄ (KTA) and KTiOPO₄ (KTP) crystals is described. The crystals allow laser radiation tuning in the infrared region (IR) wavelength region. The measurements in the 3.30–3.50 μm spectral range, which includes a strong absorption band of methane, are carried out. Lidar backscattered signals in the spectral band 3.30–3.50 μm has been measured and analyzed along the horizontal path in the atmosphere. Based on the experimental results, CH₄ concentrations ~2.085 ppm along a 800 m surface path are retrieved in the spectral range under study with a spatial resolution of 100 m. Full article