Title :
Over 20-W Mid-Infrared Picosecond Optical Parametric Oscillator
Author :
Zhipeng Qin ; Guoqiang Xie ; Weiyang Ge ; Peng Yuan ; Liejia Qian
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Phys. & Astron., Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ., Shanghai, China
Abstract :
We report on a high-average-power mid-infrared picosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) synchronously pumped by a Nd:YVO4 mode-locked laser. By use of the MgO-doped periodically poled LiNbO3 as the nonlinear crystal, up to 20.2-W picosecond laser at 2128 nm was generated from the degenerate OPO, with a conversion efficiency of 66%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest mid-infrared average output power from synchronously pumped OPO so far. The output picosecond laser had a pulse duration of 29 ps and a pulse energy of 196 nJ, with an M 2 beam quality factor of 1.5. In the nondegenerate state operation, the signal power of 12.8 W at 1966 nm and the idler power of 10.5 W at 2319 nm were obtained, with a conversion efficiency as high as 76%. The high-average-power mid-infrared picosecond OPO may lead to the application of medical surgery, microprocessing of materials, etc.
Keywords :
high-speed optical techniques; laser mode locking; lithium compounds; magnesium compounds; neodymium; optical parametric oscillators; optical pumping; yttrium compounds; LiNbO3:MgO; YVO4:Nd; energy 196 nJ; high-average-power optical parametric oscillator; mid-infrared picosecond optical parametric oscillator; mode-locked laser; nondegenerate state operation; nonlinear crystal; periodically poled lithium niobate; picosecond laser; power 10.5 W; power 12.8 W; power 20 W; power 20.2 W; quality factor; synchronously pumped OPO; time 29 ps; wavelength 1966 nm; wavelength 2128 nm; wavelength 2319 nm; Crystals; Laser beams; Nonlinear optics; Optical pulses; Optical pumping; Power generation; Picosecond laser; mid-infrared (mid-IR) lasers; optical parametric oscillator;
Journal_Title :
Photonics Journal, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/JPHOT.2015.2477281
