Angular structure formation in single-pass optical parametric generators pumped by intersecting beams

Focus wave modes in optical parametric generators

It is shown that in the paraxial approximation the conditions for noncollinear phase matching for three-wave parametric interaction in a nonlinear crystal coincide with the conditions for generation of focus wave modes. As a result, the creation of broadband localized optical fields (pulsed beams without diffraction and dispersion spreading) inside the crystals of parametric generators is feasible.

Coherence properties of the parametric three-wave interaction driven from an incoherent pump

We consider the basic problem of the parametric generation process from an incoherent pump wave. The analysis of the degenerate configuration of the two-wave interaction reveals that the mutual convection (i.e., group-velocity difference) between the incoherent pump and the signal (i.e., the daughter wave) may quench their parametric interaction, so that the gain experienced by the signal may become arbitrarily small. Conversely, in the absence of convection, the incoherent pump efficiently amplifies the signal wave, although this amplification process cannot lead to the generation of a coherent signal. However, in the case of nondegenerate three-wave interaction, we show the existence of a convection-induced phase-locking mechanism in which the incoherence of the pump is absorbed by the idler wave allowing the signal wave to grow efficiently with a high degree of coherence. We calculate explicitly the autocorrelation function of the generated signal in this regime of coherent-incoherent interaction. The analysis reveals that, owing to the convection-induced averaging process that accompanies the phase-locking mechanism, the degree of coherence of the signal increases as the degree of coherence of the pump decreases. We establish the experimental conditions that would allow for the observation of the transition between the incoherent and the coherent regimes of the three-wave parametric interaction.

Optical parametric oscillator pumped by a Bessel beam

We demonstrate operation of a KTP optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a Bessel beam for the first time to our knowledge. It is shown that the output of the OPO has a transverse profile, which is consistent with noncollinear phase-matching relations defined by a conical pump. The central spot and ring related to the pair of signal and idler beams were generated in the OPO. By adjusting the OPO cavity mirrors, we easily selected the lowest-order mode as well as the higher-order transverse modes in the central spot. Bessel beam pumping was shown to be useful, providing tubular beam coupling into OPO cavity modes. The OPO threshold pump energy was ~100 muJ in a 6-ns pulse.