Few-cycle pulses tunable from 3 to 7 µm via intrapulse difference-frequency generation in oxide LGN crystals

Sub-picosecond tunable mid-infrared light source for driving high-efficiency optical rectification

Optical rectification (OR) is a popular way to generate coherent terahertz radiation. Here, we develop a sub-picosecond mid-infrared (mid-IR) light source with a tailored wavelength and pulse duration for enhancing the OR efficiency. Numerical simulations for a LiNbO3-based OR with tilted pulse-front excitation are first conducted to determine the optimal parameters of pump wavelength and pulse duration, demonstrating that the OR efficiency pumped by 4-µm sub-picosecond (0.5-0.6 ps) pulses is approximately twice the value with 0.8-µm pump at the same conditions. Guided by the simulation results, we build a BaGa4Se7-based optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification system with 1030-nm thin-disk pump and broadband mid-IR seeds. The output performances of >200-µJ pulse energy, ∼600-fs pulse duration and 1-kHz pulse repetition rate are achieved in a spectral range tunable from 3.5 to 5 µm. The large energy scalability and high parameter tunability make the light source attractive to high-efficiency OR in various materials.

Mid-infrared quasi-parametric chirped-pulse amplification based on Sm:LGN crystals

We numerically demonstrate highly efficient mid-infrared quasi-parametric chirped-pulse amplification (QPCPA) based on a recently developed Sm³⁺-doped La₃Ga_5.5Nb_0.5O₁₄ (Sm:LGN) crystal. At pump wavelength around 1 µm, the broadband absorption of Sm³⁺ on idler pulses can enable QPCPA for femtosecond signal pulses centered at 3.5 or 5 µm, with a conversion efficiency approaching the quantum limit. Due to suppression of back conversion, such mid-infrared QPCPA exhibits robustness against phase-mismatch and pump-intensity variation. The Sm:LGN-based QPCPA will provide an efficient approach for converting currently well-developed intense laser pulses at 1 µm to mid-infrared ultrashort pulses.

Inline amplification of mid-infrared intrapulse difference frequency generation

We demonstrate an ultrafast mid-infrared source architecture that implements both intrapulse difference frequency generation (iDFG) and further optical parametric amplification (OPA), in an all-inline configuration. The source is driven by a nonlinearly compressed high-energy Yb-doped-fiber amplifier delivering 7.4 fs pulses at a central wavelength of 1030 nm, at a repetition rate of 250 kHz. It delivers 1 µJ, 73 fs pulses at a central wavelength of 8 µm, tunable over more than one octave. By enrolling all the pump photons in the iDFG process and recycling the long wavelength pump photons amplified in the iDFG in the subsequent OPA, we obtain an unprecedented overall optical efficiency of 2%. These performances, combining high energy and repetition rate in a very simple all-inline setup, make this technique ideally suited for a growing number of applications, such as high harmonic generation in solids or two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy experiments.

Enhanced intrapulse difference frequency generation in the mid-infrared by a spectrally dependent polarization state

We present a technique to optimize the intrapulse difference frequency generation efficiency for mid-infrared generation. The approach employs a multi-order wave plate that is designed to selectively rotate the polarization state of the incoming spectral components on the relevant orthogonal axes for subsequent nonlinear interaction. We demonstrate a significant increase of the mid-infrared average power generated, of a factor ≥2.5 compared with the conventional scheme, owing to an optimally distributed number of photons enrolled in the difference frequency generation process.

Mid-infrared pulsed nanosecond difference frequency generation of oxide LGN crystal up to 5.7 µm

We demonstrate the tunable difference frequency generation (DFG) of an oxide La₃Ga_5.5Nb_0.5O₁₄ (LGN) crystal pumped by near-infrared lasers with nanosecond pulses for the first time to our knowledge. The type I and II phase-matching conditions of DFG were calculated in the mid-infrared region. With the processed LGN crystals, tunable lasers in the wavelength range from 4.4 to 5.7 µm and 4.56 to 5.6 µm were achieved under type II and I phase-matching conditions, respectively, with the maximum output energy of 13.1 µJ, which agreed well with the theoretical calculation. This work provides the kind of promising mid-infrared nonlinear crystals for the pumping of nanosecond pulsed lasers as well as a tunable mid-infrared laser source at a wavelength over 5 µm in further photonic applications.

Growth of a large-aperture mid-infrared nonlinear optical La3Nb0.5Ga5.5O14 crystal for optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification

A high optical quality 60 mm-diameter LGN crystal with wide transparency was grown by the Czochralski method. The origin of the wide transparency as for a traditional oxide crystal was investigated from the viewpoint of crystal symmetry.