We report an observation of the second-order correlation between twin beams generated by amplified spontaneous parametric down-conversion operating above threshold with kilowatt-level peak power, from a periodically poled LiTaO₃ crystal via a single-pass scheme. Photocurrent correlation was measured because of the bright photon streams, with raw visibility of 37.9% or 97.3% after electronic filtering. As expected in our theory, this correlation is robust and insensitive to parametric gain and detection loss, enabling important applications in optical communications, precision measurement, and nonlocal imaging.

Alloying in two-dimension has been a hot spot in the development of new, versatile systems of optics and electronics. Alloys have been demonstrated to be a fascinating strategy to modulate the chemical and electronic properties of two-dimensional nanosheets. We firstly reported ultra-broadband enhanced nonlinear saturable absorption of Mo_0.53W_0.47Te₂ alloy at 0.6, 1.0, and 2.0 μm. The nonlinear saturable absorption of Mo_0.53W_0.47Te₂ saturable absorber (SA) was measured by the open aperture Z-scan technique. Compared to MoTe₂ and WTe₂ SAs, the Mo_0.53W_0.47Te₂ SA showed five times deeper modulation depth, 8.6% lower saturable intensity, and one order larger figure of merit. Thus, our research provides a method of alloys to find novel materials with more outstanding properties for optics and optoelectronic applications.

Due to the composition-dependent properties of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), alloying of existing dissimilar TMDs architecture is a novel and controllable route to tailor crystal structures with superior optical and optoelectronic properties. Here, we reported the hexagonal-phase WSe_1.4Te_0.6 alloy can enable great promise for enhanced saturable absorption response exceeding the parent component WSe₂ and WTe₂, with larger modulation depth and lower saturable intensity. These advantages allowed the 1064 nm passively Q-switched lasers based on WSe_1.4Te_0.6 to be more efficient, with pulse duration narrowed to 45%, and slope efficiency increased by 232%. Our findings highlighted the appropriate alloying of TMDs as an effective strategy for development of saturable absorbers.

We demonstrate an efficiency-enhanced picosecond (ps) mid-infrared radiation via optical parametric downconversion. Based on a cascaded periodically poled MgO-doped stoichiometric lithium tantalate crystal (MgO:sPPLT), a tandem optical parametric oscillation-optical parametric amplification (OPO-OPA) process is achieved. Compared with a single OPO process, the conversion efficiency obtains an enhancement of 71%.

We demonstrate a tunable optical parametric oscillator in a periodically poled congruently grown lithium tantalite whispering gallery mode resonator. The resonator is mechanically polished to millimeter size, and the quality factor is approximately 107 at 1064 nm. Our experiments show that this kind of resonator is capable of reaching a very low threshold and having a wide tuning range. Combined with its narrow resonant linewidth, it is potentially used as a compact, widely tunable, and narrow-linewidth infrared to mid-infrared laser source.