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Jia K, Wang X, Guo J, Li Y, Ni X, Fan P, Shen Q, Wang T, Lv X, Zhao G, Huang SW, Yang X, Xie Z, Zhu SN. Midinfrared Tunable Laser with Noncritical Frequency Matching in Box Resonator Geometry. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2021; 127:213902. [PMID: 34860072 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.127.213902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Monolithic optical parametric oscillators extend laser frequencies in compact architectures, but normally guide and circulate all pump, signal, and idler beams. Critical frequency matching is raised among these resonances, limiting operation stability and continuous tuning. Here, we develop a box resonator geometry that guides all beams but only resonates for signal. Such noncritical frequency matching enables 227 GHz continuous tuning, with sub-10 kHz linewidth and 0.43 W power at 3310 nm. Our results confirm that monolithic resonator can be effectively used as a tunable laser including midinfrared wavelength, as further harnessed with methane fine spectral measurement at MHz accuracy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kunpeng Jia
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Xiaohan Wang
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Jian Guo
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Yihao Li
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Xin Ni
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Pengfei Fan
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Qiqi Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, China
| | - Tao Wang
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
| | - Xinjie Lv
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Gang Zhao
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Shu-Wei Huang
- Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
| | - Xueming Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, China
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
| | - Zhenda Xie
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Shi-Ning Zhu
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
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Huang K, Gan J, Zeng J, Hao Q, Yang K, Yan M, Zeng H. Observation of spectral mode splitting in a pump-enhanced ring cavity for mid-infrared generation. OPTICS EXPRESS 2019; 27:11766-11775. [PMID: 31053017 DOI: 10.1364/oe.27.011766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 03/29/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
We report on experimental and theoretical investigation of mode-splitting dynamics in a ring cavity under the perturbation of fractional Bragg reflection from a periodically-poled nonlinear crystal. Counterintuitively, pronounced mode splitting in the spectral domain could have been observed even with a tiny intensity reflection of 0.0003. The breaking of running-wave operation in the ring-cavity configuration resulted in comparable circulating fields in forward- and counter-propagation directions, which thus dramatically reduced the enhancing factor for the resonating field. In contrast, a linear cavity with intrinsically bidirectional operation was immune to the small intra-cavity reflection. Therefore, the linear-cavity layout could provide an expedient solution for a given internal reflection to obtain more stable and higher enhancement, which was confirmed by comparative studies of mid-infrared generation based on pump-enhanced difference frequency conversion. The underlying mechanism was further modeled by numerical simulations, which agreed well with experimental results. These findings could not only shed light on the understanding of the exotic feature of concatenated optical cavities, but also provide a useful guide to practical design of enhancement cavities for cavity-based frequency conversion with periodically-poled nonlinear crystals.
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Karhu J, Lehmann K, Vainio M, Metsälä M, Halonen L. Step-modulated decay cavity ring-down detection for double resonance spectroscopy. OPTICS EXPRESS 2018; 26:29086-29098. [PMID: 30470075 DOI: 10.1364/oe.26.029086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2018] [Accepted: 09/22/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
A method of measuring double resonant two-photon signal and background from a single cavity ring-down decay is introduced. This is achieved by modulating the double resonance loss via one of the light sources exciting the transition. The noise performance of the method is characterized theoretically and experimentally. The addition of a new parameter to the fitting function introduces a minor noise increase due to parameter correlation. However, the concurrent recording of the background can extend the stable measurement time. Alternatively, the method allows a faster measurement speed, while still recording the background, which is often advantageous in double resonance measurements. Finally, the method is insensitive to changes in the cavity decay rate at short timescales and can lead to improved performance if they have significant contribution to the final noise level compared to the detector noise.
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Karhu J, Vainio M, Metsälä M, Halonen L. Frequency comb assisted two-photon vibrational spectroscopy. OPTICS EXPRESS 2017; 25:4688-4699. [PMID: 28380740 DOI: 10.1364/oe.25.004688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
We report a setup for high-resolution two-photon spectroscopy using a mid-infrared continuous wave optical parametric oscillator (CW-OPO) and a near-infrared diode laser as the excitation sources, both of which are locked to fully stabilized optical frequency combs. The diode laser is directly locked to a commercial near-infrared optical frequency comb using an optical phase-locked loop. The near-infrared frequency comb is also used to synchronously pump a degenerate femtosecond optical parametric oscillator to produce a fully stabilized mid-infrared frequency comb. The beat frequency between the mid-infrared comb and the CW-OPO is then stabilized through frequency locking. We used the setup to measure a double resonant two-photon transition to a symmetric vibrational state of acetylene with a sub-Doppler resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio.
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Vainio M, Karhu J. Fully stabilized mid-infrared frequency comb for high-precision molecular spectroscopy. OPTICS EXPRESS 2017; 25:4190-4200. [PMID: 28241624 DOI: 10.1364/oe.25.004190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
A fully stabilized mid-infrared optical frequency comb spanning from 2.9 to 3.4 µm is described in this article. The comb is based on half-harmonic generation in a femtosecond optical parametric oscillator, which transfers the high phase coherence of a fully stabilized near-infrared Er-doped fiber laser comb to the mid-infrared region. The method is simple, as no phase-locked loops or reference lasers are needed. Precise locking of optical frequencies of the mid-infrared comb to the pump comb is experimentally verified at sub-20 mHz level, which corresponds to a fractional statistical uncertainty of 2 × 10-16 at the center frequency of the mid-infrared comb. The fully stabilized mid-infrared comb is an ideal tool for high-precision molecular spectroscopy, as well as for optical frequency metrology in the mid-infrared region, which is difficult to access with other stabilized frequency comb techniques.
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Karhu J, Nauta J, Vainio M, Metsälä M, Hoekstra S, Halonen L. Double resonant absorption measurement of acetylene symmetric vibrational states probed with cavity ring down spectroscopy. J Chem Phys 2016; 144:244201. [DOI: 10.1063/1.4954159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- J. Karhu
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 55, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - J. Nauta
- Van Swinderen Institute for Particle Physics and Gravity, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, Netherlands
| | - M. Vainio
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 55, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., Centre of Metrology MIKES, P.O. Box 1000, Espoo FI-02044 VTT, Finland
| | - M. Metsälä
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 55, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - S. Hoekstra
- Van Swinderen Institute for Particle Physics and Gravity, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, Netherlands
| | - L. Halonen
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 55, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
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Ulvila V, Phillips CR, Halonen L, Vainio M. High-power mid-infrared frequency comb from a continuous-wave-pumped bulk optical parametric oscillator. OPTICS EXPRESS 2014; 22:10535-10543. [PMID: 24921755 DOI: 10.1364/oe.22.010535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
We demonstrate that it is possible to obtain a mid-infrared optical frequency comb (OFC) experimentally by using a continuous-wave-pumped optical parametric oscillator (OPO). The comb is generated without any active modulation. It is based on cascading quadratic nonlinearities that arise from intra-cavity phase mismatched second harmonic generation of the signal wave that resonates in the OPO. The generated OFC is transferred from the signal wavelength (near-infrared) to the idler wavelength (mid-infrared) by intracavity difference frequency generation between the OPO pump wave and the signal comb. We have produced a mid-infrared frequency comb which is tunable from 3.0 to 3.4 µm with an average output power of up to 3.1 W.
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Siltanen M, Leinonen T, Halonen L. Decreased oscillation threshold of a continuous-wave OPO using a semiconductor gain mirror. OPTICS EXPRESS 2011; 19:19675-19680. [PMID: 21996909 DOI: 10.1364/oe.19.019675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
We have constructed a singly resonant, continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator, where the signal beam resonates and is amplified by a semiconductor gain mirror. The gain mirror can significantly decrease the oscillation threshold compared to an identical system with conventional mirrors. The largest idler beam tuning range reached by changing the pump laser wavelength alone is from 3.6 to 4.7 µm. The single mode output power is limited but can be continuously scanned for at least 220 GHz by adding optical components in the oscillator cavity for increased stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikael Siltanen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 55, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland
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Vainio M, Siltanen M, Peltola J, Halonen L. Grating-cavity continuous-wave optical parametric oscillators for high-resolution mid-infrared spectroscopy. APPLIED OPTICS 2011; 50:A1-A10. [PMID: 21283213 DOI: 10.1364/ao.50.0000a1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The use of grating as a spectral filter provides a simple way of improving wavelength tuning and stability of continuous-wave optical parametric oscillators (cw OPOs). In this paper, we discuss how to design and use such grating-cavity cw OPOs for high-resolution spectroscopy in the molecular fingerprint region at ∼3μm. The first design presented in the paper is based on a metal-coated diffraction grating, which produces fast and broad wavelength tuning and high wavelength stability. The second design uses a bulk Bragg grating for high optical power and good spectral purity. We report a new Bragg-grating OPO and demonstrate its use in a Doppler-free absorption spectroscopy of CH4 at ∼3.22μm. In addition, we describe a new balanced detection scheme, which can be used to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of absorption measurements if the measurement noise is limited by the intensity noise of the mid-infrared OPO.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markku Vainio
- Department of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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Galli I, Bartalini S, Borri S, Cancio P, Giusfredi G, Mazzotti D, De Natale P. Ti:sapphire laser intracavity difference-frequency generation of 30 mW cw radiation around 4.5 μm. OPTICS LETTERS 2010; 35:3616-3618. [PMID: 21042368 DOI: 10.1364/ol.35.003616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
A cw mid-IR coherent source based on difference-frequency generation is designed and characterized. For mid-IR generation, a periodically poled MgO:LiNbO(3) crystal is placed inside a compact Ti:sapphire laser cavity. This provides high-power pump radiation for the nonlinear process. Optical injection by an external-cavity diode laser ensures single-frequency operation of the Ti:sapphire laser, while signal radiation is provided by a fiber-amplified Nd:YAG laser. Mid-IR radiation can be generated with 3850-4540 nm tuning range, narrow linewidth, Cs-standard traceability, and TEM(00) spatial mode. 30 mW power is obtained at 4510 nm.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Galli
- Isitituto Nazionale di Ottica (INO)-CNR, Largo Fermi 6, 50125 Firenze FI, Italy
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