强激光与粒子束
2023, 35(9): 091005
Author Affiliations
Abstract
1 Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
2 GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany
3 Laboratoire pour l’Utilisation des Lasers Intenses, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France
4 Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
5 Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
6 Helmholtz-Institut Jena, Jena, Germany
We report on the development of an ultrafast optical parametric amplifier front-end for the Petawatt High Energy Laser for heavy Ion eXperiments (PHELIX) and the Petawatt ENergy-Efficient Laser for Optical Plasma Experiments (PEnELOPE) facilities. This front-end delivers broadband and stable amplification up to 1 mJ per pulse while maintaining a high beam quality. Its implementation at PHELIX allowed one to bypass the front-end amplifier, which is known to be a source of pre-pulses. With the bypass, an amplified spontaneous emission contrast of $4.9\times {10}^{-13}$ and a pre-pulse contrast of $6.2\times {10}^{-11}$ could be realized. Due to its high stability, high beam quality and its versatile pump amplifier, the system offers an alternative for high-gain regenerative amplifiers in the front-end of various laser systems.
high-intensity laser temporal laser contrast ultrafast optical parametric amplification High Power Laser Science and Engineering
2023, 11(4): 04000e48
Author Affiliations
Abstract
Laser Research Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio Avenue 10, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
The generation of power- and wavelength-scalable few optical cycle pulses remains one of the major challenges in modern laser physics. Over the past decade, the development of table-top optical parametric chirped pulse amplification-based systems was progressing at amazing speed, demonstrating excellent performance characteristics in terms of pulse duration, energy, peak power and repetition rate, which place them at the front line of modern ultrafast laser technology. At present, table-top optical parametric chirped pulse amplifiers comprise a unique class of ultrafast light sources, which currently amplify octave-spanning spectra and produce carrier-envelope phase-stable, few optical cycle pulses with multi-gigawatt to multi-terawatt peak powers and multi-watt average powers, with carrier wavelengths spanning a considerable range of the optical spectrum. This article gives an overview on the state of the art of table-top optical parametric chirped pulse amplifiers, addressing their relevant scientific and technological aspects, and provides a short outlook of practical applications in the growing field of ultrafast science.
optical parametric amplification post-compression ultrafast nonlinear optics high harmonic generation Opto-Electronic Advances
2023, 6(3): 220046
Author Affiliations
Abstract
1 Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
2 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
3 Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Nonlinear optical imaging is a versatile tool that has been proven to be exceptionally useful in various research fields. However, due to the use of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), the wide application of nonlinear optical imaging is limited by the incapability of imaging under ambient light. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a new optical imaging detection method based on optical parametric amplification (OPA). As a nonlinear optical process, OPA intrinsically rejects ambient light photons by coherence gating. Periodical poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystals are used in this study as the media for OPA. Compared to bulk nonlinear optical crystals, PPLN crystals support the generation of OPA signal with lower pump power. Therefore, this characteristic of PPLN crystals is particularly beneficial when using high-repetition-rate lasers, which facilitate high-speed optical signal detection, such as in spectroscopy and imaging. A PPLN-based OPA system was built to amplify the emitted imaging signal from second harmonic generation (SHG) and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy imaging, and the amplified optical signal was strong enough to be detected by a biased photodiode under ordinary room light conditions. With OPA detection, ambient-light-on SHG and CARS imaging becomes possible, and achieves a similar result as PMT detection under strictly dark environments. These results demonstrate that OPA can be used as a substitute for PMTs in nonlinear optical imaging to adapt it to various applications with complex lighting conditions.Nonlinear optical imaging is a versatile tool that has been proven to be exceptionally useful in various research fields. However, due to the use of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), the wide application of nonlinear optical imaging is limited by the incapability of imaging under ambient light. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a new optical imaging detection method based on optical parametric amplification (OPA). As a nonlinear optical process, OPA intrinsically rejects ambient light photons by coherence gating. Periodical poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystals are used in this study as the media for OPA. Compared to bulk nonlinear optical crystals, PPLN crystals support the generation of OPA signal with lower pump power. Therefore, this characteristic of PPLN crystals is particularly beneficial when using high-repetition-rate lasers, which facilitate high-speed optical signal detection, such as in spectroscopy and imaging. A PPLN-based OPA system was built to amplify the emitted imaging signal from second harmonic generation (SHG) and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy imaging, and the amplified optical signal was strong enough to be detected by a biased photodiode under ordinary room light conditions. With OPA detection, ambient-light-on SHG and CARS imaging becomes possible, and achieves a similar result as PMT detection under strictly dark environments. These results demonstrate that OPA can be used as a substitute for PMTs in nonlinear optical imaging to adapt it to various applications with complex lighting conditions.
Nonlinear optical microscopy optical parametric amplification optical detection Journal of Innovative Optical Health Sciences
2023, 16(1): 2245001
Author Affiliations
Abstract
1 Key Laboratory on High Power Laser and Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
2 Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
3 Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
As optical parametric chirped pulse amplification has been widely adopted for the generation of extreme intensity laser sources, nonlinear crystals of large aperture are demanded for high-energy amplifiers. Yttrium calcium oxyborate (YCa4O(BO3)3, YCOB) is capable of being grown with apertures exceeding 100 mm, which makes it possible for application in systems of petawatt scale. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge, an ultra-broadband non-collinear optical parametric amplifier with YCOB for petawatt-scale compressed pulse generation at 800 nm. Based on the SG-II 5 PW facility, amplified signal energy of approximately 40 J was achieved and pump-to-signal conversion efficiency was up to 42.3%. A gain bandwidth of 87 nm was realized and supported a compressed pulse duration of 22.3 fs. The near-field and wavefront aberration represented excellent characteristics, which were comparable with those achieved in lithium triborate-based amplifiers. These results verified the great potential for YCOB utilization in the future.
optical parametric amplification petawatt ultra-short pulse yttrium calcium oxyborate High Power Laser Science and Engineering
2023, 11(1): 010000e2
Author Affiliations
Abstract
1 State Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
2 School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
3 Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Temporal contrast directly affects the interaction between ultraintense and ultrashort pulse lasers with matter. Seed laser sources with broad bandwidth and high temporal contrast are significant for overall temporal contrast enhancement. The technique of cascaded nonlinear processes with optical parametric amplification and second-harmonic generation is demonstrated for high temporal contrast seed source generation. Within 40 ps before the main pulse, the temporal contrast reaches over 1011. The pulse energy and duration of the high-contrast pulse are 112 μJ and 70 fs, respectively. Considering its high beam quality and stability, this laser source can serve as a high-quality seed for Nd:glass-based ultraintense and ultrashort pulse laser facilities.
high temporal contrast nonlinear effect optical parametric amplification High Power Laser Science and Engineering
2023, 11(1): 010000e1
Author Affiliations
Abstract
1 Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Devices and Systems of Ministry of Education and Guangdong Province, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Micro-Nano Photonic Information Technology, College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, , Shenzhen 518060, China
2 College of Electronics and Information Engineering, , Shenzhen 518060, China
Applying an ultrafast vortex laser as the pump, optical parametric amplification can be used for spiral phase-contrast imaging with high gain, wide spatial bandwidth, and high imaging contrast. Our experiments show that this design has realized the 1064 nm spiral phase-contrast idler imaging of biological tissues (frog egg cells and onion epidermis) with a spatial resolution at several microns level and a superior imaging contrast to both the traditional bright- or dark-field imaging under a weak illumination of . This work provides a powerful way for biological tissue imaging in the second near-infrared region.
optical parametric amplification ultrafast vortex laser pulse spatial resolution phase-contrast imaging Chinese Optics Letters
2022, 20(10): 100003
Author Affiliations
Abstract
Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Control, School of Measurement and Communication Engineering, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150080, China
Ince–Gaussian (IG) beams, as eigenfunctions of the paraxial wave equation in elliptical coordinates, are attracting increasing interest owing to their propagation-invariant and full-field properties. Optical amplification via parametric interactions can further expand their application areas, yet it is rarely studied. In this work, we report on a high-fidelity parametric amplifier for IG beams. The nonlinear transformation of the spatial spectra of the signal and associated influences on the beam profiles of the amplified signal, under different pump structures, were theoretically and experimentally investigated. By using a perfect flattop beam as the pump, we show that the transverse structure of IG signals is well maintained, and the distortion induced by radial-mode degeneration is overcome during amplification. This proof-of-principle demonstration paves the way for a mode-independent and distortion-free amplifier of arbitrary structured light and has great significance in relevant areas, such as quantum optics, tunable infrared-laser generation, and image amplification.
optical parametric amplification Ince–Gaussian beam high fidelity perfect flattop beam Chinese Optics Letters
2022, 20(11): 113801
研究了少模光参量放大器（FMOPA）的串扰特性，详细描述了发生在少模光纤模式内和模式间的四波混频及其相位匹配条件。给出了少模光纤中与时间无关的非线性薛定谔传输方程，利用数值求解方法描述了FMOPA的模间串扰，并推导出相应的半解析解。首先，设计了一种新的光纤结构，能在C波段（1530~1565 nm）以20 nm带宽传输五个模式。然后，用COMSOL仿真软件获得不同模式的模场分布，并用Matlab软件计算了这些模式间的传播常数与非线性系数。最后，通过合理调整每个模式的传输功率，在150 m长的光纤上使不同模式间的最大差分增益减小到0.7 dB。实验结果表明，半解析解与数值求解方法得到的串扰结果一致性较高。
非线性光学 光参量放大器 四波混频 少模光纤 模间串扰 激光与光电子学进展
2022, 59(11): 1119001
