Extended femtosecond laser wavelength range to 330 nm in a high power LBO based optical parametric oscillator

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate a compact tunable, high average power femtosecond laser source in the ultraviolet (UV) regime. The laser source is based on intra-cavity frequency doubling of a temperature-tuned lithium tribotate (LBO) optical parametric oscillator (OPO), synchronously pumped at 520 nm by a frequency-doubled, Yb-fiber femtosecond laser amplifier system. By adjusting crystal temperature, the OPO can provide tunable visible to near-infrared (NIR) signal pulse, which have a wide spectral tuning range from 660 to 884 nm. Using a β-barium borate (BBO) crystal for intra-cavity frequency doubling, tunable femtosecond UV pulse are generated across 330~442 nm with up to 364 mW at 402 nm.

Brewster mirror ultrafast optical parametric oscillator with high precision wavelength tuning

“…Synchronously-pumped optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) are versatile platforms for the generation of wavelengths not readily accessible from laser gain media [4][5][6][7], using a resonant cavity to enhance weak single-pass parametric down-conversion in a nonlinear crystal and convert a high frequency pump wave into lower frequency signal and idler waves in an energy conserving process. For a fixed pump, tuning the signal is primarily achieved by altering the phase-matching properties of the crystal, or by adjusting the cavity length [8].…”

Subnanosecond widely-tunable in the visible spectrum range LBO based optical parametric amplifier

“…Since laser wavelength tunability is usually very limited, optical parametric generators (OPGs) [6] and optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs) [7][8][9] are used as sources of tunable coherent radiation. Rapid progress in laser technologies and new nonlinear crystals enabled creation of a wide range of optical parametric devices with wavelength tunability from VIS to mid-IR spectrum range using pump from CW radiation to fs pulses [7,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. A unique and promising temporal interval in this context is subnanosecond (300 ps-1 ns) pulse duration range which is only accessible to actively mode-locked lasers and passively Q-switched microlasers.…”

Tunable visible frequency combs from a Yb-fiber-laser-pumped optical parametric oscillator

“…Using fiber-laser-pumped synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillators (SPOPO), widely tunable combs with larger average powers [24,25] and shorter pulses [26] have been achieved. Some work has explored intracavity doubling and sum frequency generation for tunable visible and UV comb generation [27][28][29][30]. However, these previous fiber-laser-pumped SPOPOs have only demonstrated coverage of small portions of the visible spectrum.…”