High power narrow bandwidth picosecond PPLN-OPO.

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Laser Physics
• Nonlinear Optics

Background:

• Optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) are crucial for generating tunable laser light.
• Achieving narrow bandwidth and high power simultaneously in picosecond MIR sources remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a high-power, narrow-bandwidth, synchronously pumped periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) OPO.
• To investigate the effectiveness of a reflective volume Bragg grating (RVBG) for spectral control.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a synchronously pumped PPLN OPO configuration.
• Employed a reflective volume Bragg grating (RVBG) to lock signal wavelength and compress bandwidth.
• Characterized output power, wavelength, bandwidth, beam quality, and stability.

Main Results:

• Achieved an output power of 4.3 W at 1908.1 nm with a compressed bandwidth of 0.25 nm.
• Operated at a repetition rate of 80 MHz with good beam quality factors (1.30 and 1.68).
• Demonstrated high output power and directional stability (RMS = 1.4% and 49.58 μrad).

Conclusions:

• Synchronously pumped OPOs are effective for generating narrow-bandwidth picosecond MIR laser sources.
• RVBG is a viable method for precise wavelength locking and bandwidth compression.
• The demonstrated OPO system shows promise for applications requiring high-quality MIR laser output.