Continuous-Wave 3.1–3.6 μm Difference-Frequency Generation of Dual Wavelength-Tunable Fiber Sources in PPMgLN-Based Rapid-Tuning Design

We report on a single-frequency continuous wave (CW) difference-frequency generation (DFG) source based on single-frequency wavelength-tunable polarization-maintaining ytterbium- and erbium-doped fiber master oscillator–power amplifiers (MOPAs), acting as the pump and signal source, respectively, and a 40-mm long periodically poled MgO-doped LiNbO3 (PPMgLN) crystal. Owing to the dual wavelength-tuning of the MOPAs, the generated idler light reaches a wavelength-tuning range of close to 500 nm, from ∼3117.2 to ∼3598.8 nm, only by tuning the launched pump and signal wavelengths from 1040 to 1084.6 nm and from 1545.2 to 1561.4 nm, respectively, without any change of temperature or grating period of the PPMgLN. Compared to temperature-based idler-wavelength-tuning, this method is potentially faster in speed. The maximum idler power exceeds 60 mW, which is the highest reported power for a wavelength-tunable single-frequency CW DFG source. A rapidly wideband-tunable DFG source with tens of milliwatts of output power in a narrow line can be a practical tool for mid-infrared molecular spectroscopy, detection, and sensing at high measurement rates.

[1]  R. W. McElhanon,et al.  Difference-frequency generation of tunable mid-infrared radiation in bulk periodically poled LiNbO(3). , 1995, Optics letters.

[2]  P. Ewart,et al.  Mid-infrared multi-mode absorption spectroscopy, MUMAS, using difference frequency generation , 2015 .

[3]  S. E. Bisson,et al.  Periodically poled lithium niobate optical parametric amplifier seeded with the narrow-band filtered output of an optical parametric generator. , 1998, Optics letters.

[4]  G. G. Stokes.  "J." , 1890, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[5]  D. Fan,et al.  Highly efficient tunable mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator pumped by a wavelength locked, Q-switched Er:YAG laser. , 2015, Optics express.

[6]  Takunori Taira,et al.  Widely tunable optical parametric oscillator in a 5 mm thick 5% MgO:PPLN partial cylinder. , 2013, Optics letters.

[7]  Neil Savage,et al.  Optical parametric oscillators , 2010 .

[8]  Grzegorz Sobon,et al.  DFG-based mid-IR generation using a compact dual-wavelength all-fiber amplifier for laser spectroscopy applications. , 2013, Optics express.

[9]  Valentin Petrov,et al.  Frequency down-conversion of solid-state laser sources to the mid-infrared spectral range using non-oxide nonlinear crystals , 2015 .

[10]  Lauri Halonen,et al.  Grating-cavity continuous-wave optical parametric oscillators for high-resolution mid-infrared spectroscopy. , 2011, Applied optics.

[11]  David Jones,et al.  High power , 1994, Nature.

[12]  W. Marsden.  I and J , 2012 .

[13]  John Lehrer Zyskind,et al.  80 nm ultra-wideband erbium-doped silica fibre amplifier , 1997 .

[14]  Walter Johnstone,et al.  LD-seeded thulium-doped fibre amplifier for CO2 measurements at 2 µm , 2014 .

[15]  Dan Hewak,et al.  Progress towards non-intrusive optical measurement of gas turbine exhaust species distributions , 2015, 2015 IEEE Aerospace Conference.

[16]  Shekhar Guha,et al.  Multiwatt-level continuous-wave midwave infrared generation using difference frequency mixing in periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate. , 2014, Optics letters.

[17]  Shaif-ul Alam,et al.  High-power wavelength-tunable cladding-pumped rare-earth-doped silica fiber lasers , 2004 .

[18]  J R Taylor,et al.  Highly efficient mid-infrared difference-frequency generation using synchronously pulsed fiber lasers. , 2016, Optics letters.

[19]  John Haub,et al.  99 W mid-IR operation of a ZGP OPO at 25% duty cycle. , 2013, Optics express.

[20]  Hideki Ishizuki,et al.  High-power, widely tunable, room-temperature picosecond optical parametric oscillator based on cylindrical 5%MgO:PPLN. , 2015, Optics letters.

[21]  P. De Natale,et al.  A 3.5-mW continuous-wave difference-frequency source around 3 μm for sub-Doppler molecular spectroscopy , 2005, EQEC '05. European Quantum Electronics Conference, 2005..

[22]  M. Gong,et al.  Broadly tunable mode-hop-free mid-infrared light source with MgO:PPLN continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator. , 2012, Optics letters.

[23]  H McCann,et al.  An efficient approach for limited-data chemical species tomography and its error bounds , 2016, Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

[24]  Qinghe Mao,et al.  Widely tunable continuous wave mid-IR DFG source based on fiber lasers and amplifiers , 2009 .

[25]  David McCormick,et al.  Implementation of non-intrusive jet exhaust species distribution measurements within a test facility , 2016, 2016 IEEE Aerospace Conference.

[26]  Detection of CH$_{4}$ in the Mid-IR Using Difference Frequency Generation With Tunable Diode Laser Spectroscopy , 2010, Journal of Lightwave Technology.

[27]  G. Boyd,et al.  Parametric Interaction of Focused Gaussian Light Beams , 1968 .

[28]  S. Guha.  Focusing dependence of the efficiency of a singly resonant optical parametric oscillator , 1998 .

[29]  J K Sahu,et al.  High-power tunable single-frequency single-mode erbium:ytterbium codoped large-core fiber master-oscillator power amplifier source. , 2005, Optics letters.

[30]  Fabio Di Teodoro,et al.  Watt-level, gigahertz-linewidth difference-frequency generation in PPLN pumped by an nanosecond-pulse fiber laser source. , 2015, Optics letters.

[31]  Eric Cormier,et al.  High power, continuous-wave ytterbium-doped fiber laser tunable from 976 to 1120 nm. , 2013, Optics express.

[32]  O. Jensen,et al.  500 nm continuous wave tunable single-frequency mid-IR light source for C-H spectroscopy , 2012 .

[33]  P. Maddaloni,et al.  Sub-kilohertz linewidth narrowing of a mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator idler frequency by direct cavity stabilization. , 2015, Optics letters.