All-solid-state, tunable, single-frequency source of yellow light for high-resolution spectroscopy

Abstract

We demonstrate a cw doubly resonant optical parametric oscillator that is frequency doubled in an external resonant cavity to the visible spectral range. We obtained single-frequency radiation in the range 565-590 nm with as much as 3.8 mW of power, which is continuously tunable over an 18-GHz range and step tunable over 160 GHz. The source is well suited for high-resolution spectroscopy in the visible region. As a demonstration, we performed persistent hyperfine spectral hole-burning spectroscopy of Eu(3+): Y(2)SiO(5) . Reliable operation of the source permitted studies of the hole's lifetime over several hours.

Spectrally Narrow, Long-Term Stable Optical Frequency Reference Based on aEu3+∶Y2SiO5Crystal at Cryogenic Temperature

“…A solid-state laser source based on a cw-OPO has been used to obtain spectral holes with linewidth below 1 MHz [14]. By coincidence, the 580 nm wavelength is very close to the 1 S 0 -3 P 0 clock transition in neutral Yb (578 nm).…”

494 nm blue laser based on sum-frequency mixing of diode pumped Nd3+ lasers

“…The doubly resonant consists of three arms: one shared and two separate. The separate arms include the laser crys 1 The article is published in the original. tals and permit independent alignment of the lasers.…”

“…In recent years, much attention has been paid to efficient, compact all solid state visible wavelength lasers for some applications, such as fluorescence spectroscopy, display, flow cytometry, and underwater communications [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Lasers emitting in the blue range are useful in many fields, such as medicine, lithography, communications, display or biology.…”

Engineered quasi-phase-matching for laser techniques [Invited]

“…The first QPM CW SRO operation was reported by Myers et al [141] in a 50-mm-long PPLN crystal with a threshold of 3 W. To get efficient and stable output, the pump power should be several times the oscillation threshold, and this can done by utilizing high-power single-frequency pumping sources [142], reducing the threshold by choosing a suitable interaction length [143], or using high-power broadband lasers as the pumps [144]. To extend the output spectral region to shorter wavelengths, especially in the visible, one can exploit frequency-doubled green laser as the pump to obtain red or yellow light, as well as cascading a SHG/SFG process to get blue light [77,145,146]. One of the challenges of the nonlinear materials used in CW OPO operation is the light absorption, and weak absorption losses will raise the pump threshold to several tens of watts.…”