Picosecond synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator based on chirped quasi-phase matching

Guillaume Walter (1) , Delphine Descloux (1) , Jean-Baptiste Dherbecourt (1) , Jean-Michel Melkonian (1) , Myriam Raybaut (1) , Cyril Drag (2) , Antoine Godard (1)

1 DPHY, ONERA, Université Paris Saclay (COmUE) [Palaiseau]
2 LPP - Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas

We investigate and model a picosecond synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on an aperiodically poled lithium niobate (APPLN) nonlinear crystal with a chirped quasi-phase-matching (QPM) grating. We observe remarkable spectral features with an asymmetric OPO spectrum consisting of a main peak with lower side-lobes. Depending on the sign of the QPM chirp rate, the side-lobes are located either on the red or on the blue side of the main peak. Meanwhile, side-bands develop in the depleted pump spectrum. We attribute these features to cascaded sum-/difference-frequency generation processes which are quasi-phase matched at different positions in the APPLN crystal. A terahertz-generation cascading effect is also observed and characterized at high pump power.

Mots clés: OPTICAL PARAMETRIC OSCILLATOR; QUASI-PHASE MATCHING; NONLINEAR OPTICS; PICOSECOND

Mots clés: OSCILLATEUR PARAMETRIQUE OPTIQUE; QUASI-ACCORD DE PHASE; OPTIQUE NON LINEAIRE; PICOSECONDE; OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS; OPTICAL FREQUENCY CONVERSION; PARAMETRIC OSCILLATION; PHASE MATCHING; SELF PHASE MODULATION

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]; Physique [physics]

Guillaume Walter, Delphine Descloux, Jean-Baptiste Dherbecourt, Jean-Michel Melkonian, Myriam Raybaut, et al.. Picosecond synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator based on chirped quasi-phase matching. Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 2020, 37 (2), pp.552-563. ⟨10.1364/JOSAB.380605⟩. ⟨hal-02470302⟩