Title :
Parametric generation of 1-ps pulses between 5 and 11 μm with a ZnGeP2 crystal
Author :
Petrov, Valentin ; Tanaka, Yoshihito ; Suzuki, Takanori
Author_Institution :
RIKEN, Inst. of Phys. & Chem. Res., Saitama, Japan
fDate :
10/1/1997 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
We use a novel picosecond source (a seeded optical parametric amplifier tunable near 3 μm) to pump a type-11 ZnGeP2 traveling-wave optical parametric generator, With a rather simplified two-pass arrangement, the tunability of the driving Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier is extended continuously up to 11 μm. As a result of the short pulse pumping and the pulse compression accompanying the parametric amplification, nearly bandwidth-limited pulses could be generated for the first time with this crystal. We report microjoule output energies with 20% quantum efficiency and unprecedentedly low (<100 MW/cm2 for a crystal length of only 1 cm) parametric gain thresholds
Keywords :
high-speed optical techniques; laser tuning; optical materials; optical parametric amplifiers; optical parametric devices; optical parametric oscillators; optical pulse compression; optical pumping; ternary semiconductors; transparency; zinc compounds; 1 cm; 1 ps; 1-ps pulses; 20 percent; 3 mum; 5 to 11 mum; Al2O3:Ti; ZnGeP2; ZnGeP2 crystal; driving Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier; microjoule output energies; nearly bandwidth-limited pulses; parametric amplification; parametric gain thresholds; parametric generation; picosecond source; pulse compression; quantum efficiency; seeded optical parametric amplifier; short pulse pumping; simplified two-pass arrangement; tunability; type-11 ZnGeP2 traveling-wave optical parametric generator; Nonlinear optics; Optical amplifiers; Optical pulse compression; Optical pulse generation; Optical pumping; Pulse amplifiers; Pulse compression methods; Pulse generation; Semiconductor optical amplifiers; Stimulated emission;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
