Ti:sapphire-pumped diamond Raman laser with sub-100-fs pulse duration

Diamond Raman laser and Yb fiber amplifier for in vivo multiphoton fluorescence microscopy

Here we introduce a fiber amplifier and a diamond Raman laser that output high powers (6.5 W, 1.3 W) at valuable wavelengths (1060 nm, 1250 nm) for two-photon excitation of red-shifted fluorophores. These custom excitation sources are both simple to construct and cost-efficient in comparison to similar custom and commercial alternatives. Furthermore, they operate at a repetition rate (80 MHz) that allows fast image acquisition using resonant scanners. With our system we demonstrate compatibility with fast resonant scanning, the ability to acquire neuronal images, and the capability to image vasculature at deep locations (>1 mm) within the mouse cerebral cortex.

Stimulated Raman Scattering in Alkali-Earth Tungstate and Molybdate Crystals at Both Stretching and Bending Raman Modes under Synchronous Picosecond Pumping with Multiple Pulse Shortening Down to 1 ps

Comparative investigation of characteristics of spontaneous and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in different alkali-earth tungstate and molybdate crystals at both high and low frequency anionic group vibrations is presented. It has been found that, among these crystals, the SrMoO4 and SrWO4 crystals are the most perspective for SRS generation on both stretching and bending modes of internal anionic group vibrations with the strongest SRS pulse shortening under synchronous laser pumping because of not only highly intense stretching mode Raman line for efficient primary extra cavity long-shifted SRS conversion but also the widest bending mode Raman line for the strongest SRS pulse shortening down to the inverse width of the widest Raman line (~1 ps) at secondary intracavity short-shifted SRS conversion. The strongest 26-fold pump pulse shortening down to 1.4 ps at the Stokes component with the combined Raman shift in the synchronously pumped extra cavity SrMoO4 and SrWO4 Raman lasers has been demonstrated. It was found that synchronously pumped cascade SRS with combined Raman shift is more efficient in the SrWO4 crystal because the bending mode Raman line is more intense relative to the stretching mode Raman line than that in SrMoO4.

Tunable terahertz generation in the picosecond regime from the stimulated polariton scattering in a LiNbO3 crystal

We demonstrate narrowband tunable terahertz generation from a picosecond LiNbO₃ polariton laser, pumped by a CW mode-locked Nd:YVO₄ picosecond laser. We generated up to 5.4 μW of terahertz output in untuned mode. We tuned the terahertz output, using etalons in the cavity, from 0.51 to 2.12 THz. Terahertz output powers of 3.7 μW and 2.4 μW were achieved at terahertz frequencies of 1.6 THz and 0.9 THz, respectively.

Ultrafast second-Stokes diamond Raman laser

We report a synchronously-pumped femtosecond diamond Raman laser operating with a tunable second-Stokes output. Pumped using a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser at 840-910 nm with a duration of 165 fs, the second-Stokes wavelength was tuneable from 1082 - 1200 nm with sub-picosecond duration. Our results demonstrate potential for cascaded Raman conversion to extend the wavelength coverage of standard laser sources to new regions.

25.5 fs dissipative soliton diamond Raman laser

We have demonstrated a dissipative soliton diamond Raman laser that generates 25.5 fs pulses. Synchronously pumped by a 128 fs Ti:sapphire laser, the Raman cavity employed a pair of chirped mirrors to optimize the group delay dispersion, resulting in a Stokes field with 125 nm of spectral bandwidth from 840 to 965 nm. The Stokes pulse formation can be described as a dissipative soliton balancing self-phase modulation, normal dispersion, and gain due to stimulated Raman scattering (SRS).

Multiwavelength ultrafast LiNbO(3) Raman laser

We present a multiwavelength ultrafast Raman laser based on lithium niobate which uses polariton scattering in combination with Raman scattering to selectively generate new wavelengths from a nanojoule-scale picosecond pump laser. Pumped by a 1064 nm pump laser, the system generates 1123 nm by stimulated polariton scattering (SPS) and 1140 nm by stimulated Raman scattering (SRS). Cascading of these intracavity fields generates 1155 nm and 1174 nm, as well as generating THz output.

Efficient diamond Raman laser generating 65 fs pulses

We report a synchronously-pumped femtosecond diamond Raman laser operating at 890 nm with a slope efficiency of 32%. Pumped using a mode-locked Ti:Sapphire laser at 796 nm with a pulse duration of 194 fs, the bandwidth of the Stokes output was broadened to enable subsequent pulse compression to 65 fs using a prism-pair. Modelling results provide an understanding of the physical mechanisms involved in the Raman conversion of femtosecond pulses, supporting an in-depth characterization of these ultrashort pulsed lasers.

Four-wavelength laser based on intracavity BaWO₄ Raman conversions of a dual-wavelength Q-switched Nd:YLF laser

By using diode-end-pumped acousto-optically Q-switched intracavity Raman laser configurations, we demonstrate a four-wavelength laser emitting at 1047.0, 1053.0, 1159.4 and 1166.8 nm. Two Nd:YLiF₄ crystals are employed to generate 1047.0-nm and 1053.0-nm laser radiations. These two lasers are then frequency converted by a BaWO₄ Raman crystal to generate 1159.4-nm and 1166.8-nm first-Stokes waves. With pulse synchronization realized, we obtain the maximum output powers of 427, 418, 423 and 332 mW for 1047.0-nm, 1053.0-nm, 1159.4-nm and 1166.8-nm lasers, respectively. The total optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is 15.1%.