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Yin Y, Chew A, Ren X, Li J, Wang Y, Wu Y, Chang Z. Towards Terawatt Sub-Cycle Long-Wave Infrared Pulses via Chirped Optical Parametric Amplification and Indirect Pulse Shaping. Sci Rep 2017; 8:45794. [PMID: 28367966 PMCID: PMC5377938 DOI: 10.1038/srep45794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2016] [Accepted: 03/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
We present an approach for both efficient generation and amplification of 4-12 μm pulses by tailoring the phase matching of the nonlinear crystal Zinc Germanium Phosphide (ZGP) in a narrowband-pumped optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA) and a broadband-pumped dual-chirped optical parametric amplifier (DC-OPA), respectively. Preliminary experimental results are obtained for generating 1.8-4.2 μm super broadband spectra, which can be used to seed both the signal of the OPCPA and the pump of the DC-OPA. The theoretical pump-to-idler conversion efficiency reaches 27% in the DC-OPA pumped by a chirped broadband Cr2+:ZnSe/ZnS laser, enabling the generation of Terawatt-level 4-12 μm pulses with an available large-aperture ZGP. Furthermore, the 4-12 μm idler pulses can be compressed to sub-cycle pulses by compensating the tailored positive chirp of the idler pulses using the bulk compressor NaCl, and by indirectly controlling the higher-order idler phase through tuning the signal (2.4-4.0 μm) phase with a commercially available acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter (AOPDF). A similar approach is also described for generating high-energy 4-12 μm sub-cycle pulses via OPCPA pumped by a 2 μm Ho:YLF laser.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanchun Yin
- Institute for the Frontier of Attosecond Science and Technology, CREOL and Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, 32816, USA
| | - Andrew Chew
- Institute for the Frontier of Attosecond Science and Technology, CREOL and Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, 32816, USA
| | - Xiaoming Ren
- Institute for the Frontier of Attosecond Science and Technology, CREOL and Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, 32816, USA
| | - Jie Li
- Institute for the Frontier of Attosecond Science and Technology, CREOL and Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, 32816, USA
| | - Yang Wang
- Institute for the Frontier of Attosecond Science and Technology, CREOL and Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, 32816, USA
| | - Yi Wu
- Institute for the Frontier of Attosecond Science and Technology, CREOL and Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, 32816, USA
| | - Zenghu Chang
- Institute for the Frontier of Attosecond Science and Technology, CREOL and Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, 32816, USA
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Yin Y, Li J, Ren X, Wang Y, Chew A, Chang Z. High-energy two-cycle pulses at 3.2 μm by a broadband-pumped dual-chirped optical parametric amplification. OPTICS EXPRESS 2016; 24:24989-24998. [PMID: 27828439 DOI: 10.1364/oe.24.024989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
A design for efficient generation of mid-infrared pulses at 3.2 μm is presented, which is based on numerical simulations of the broadband-pumped dual-chirped optical parametric amplification (DC-OPA) in LiNbO3 doped with 5 mol.% MgO (MgO:LiNbO3). The broadband seed can be generated by difference frequency generation in KTA using spectrally-broadened Ti:Sapphire lasers. The broad DC-OPA phase-matching bandwidth-spanning from 2.4 μm to 4.0 μm-is achieved by chirping both the broadband Ti:Sapphire pump pulses and the seed pulses in such a way that the individual temporal slice of pump spectrum is able to phase match that of seed spectrum. This phase matching scheme allows the use of longer crystals without gain narrowing or loss of conversion efficiency. The theoretical conversion efficiency from the pump to the idler reaches 19.1 %, enabling generation of a few hundred mJ of mid-IR energy with an available large-aperture MgO:LiNbO3 crystal. Furthermore, the commercially available acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter (AOPDF) ensures compression of such a broad bandwidth down to 20 fs (two optical cycles at 3.2 μm).
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Yin Y, Li J, Ren X, Zhao K, Wu Y, Cunningham E, Chang Z. High-efficiency optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier in BiB₃O₆ for generation of 3 mJ, two-cycle, carrier-envelope-phase-stable pulses at 1.7 μm. OPTICS LETTERS 2016; 41:1142-1145. [PMID: 26977654 DOI: 10.1364/ol.41.001142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
We produce a 3 mJ, two-cycle (11.4 fs), 1 kHz, carrier-envelope phase (CEP)-stable laser source at 1.7 μm via a three-stage Ti:sapphire-pumped optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier in BiB3O6. We achieve a pump-to-signal conversion efficiency of 18% in the last stage, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the highest yet achieved for near-octave bandwidth amplification. A f-to-2f measurement shows a CEP instability of 165 mrad over 1 h. This is an ideal light source for generating isolated attosecond pulses in the soft x-ray region.
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Wandel S, Lin MW, Yin Y, Xu G, Jovanovic I. Parametric generation and characterization of femtosecond mid-infrared pulses in ZnGeP 2. OPTICS EXPRESS 2016; 24:5287-5299. [PMID: 29092353 DOI: 10.1364/oe.24.005287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Ultrafast mid-infrared (IR) coherent radiation plays an important role in strong-field physics, wherein the use of longer wavelengths has reduced the optical intensities needed to drive light-matter interactions by orders of magnitude in comparison to near-IR radiation. Optimizing parametric interactions for generation and characterization of mid-IR pulses is an enabling step for those applications. We report on the production of >50 µJ femtosecond pulses centered at 5 µm in a two-stage optical parametric amplifier (OPA) based on ZnGeP2, a high-performance optical material in this spectral region. The OPA is pumped by an ultrafast 2-µm source. Amplified pulses have been characterized by parametric upconversion, enabling the use of standard silicon detectors. A numerical model of the system has been developed and tested to control dispersion, group-velocity mismatch, and off-axis parametric fluorescence. The source architecture is suitable for production of mJ-level mid-IR ultrafast pulses without the use of chirped-pulse amplification, where convenient pumping could be realized directly by mid-IR laser sources based on materials such as Cr:ZnSe or Cr:ZnS.
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