Compact, cost-effective and high power mid-infrared (MIR) optical parametric oscillator (OPO)

紧凑、经济高效的高功率中红外 (MIR) 光参量振荡器 (OPO)

• 批准号: 507890-2016
• 负责人: Légaré, François
• 金额: $ 3.64万
• 依托单位: Institut national de la recherche scientifique
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=618903
• 关键词: Compact; cost; effective; power; mid

We will demonstrate a low repetition rate continuously-tunable optical parametric oscillator (OPO) operating in the mid-infrared (MIR) spectral region. An OPO is a light source similar to a laser, also using a resonator, but based on optical gain from parametric amplification in a nonlinear crystal rather than from stimulated emission. A main attraction of OPOs is that the signal and idler wavelengths can be varied in wide ranges. Thus, it is possible to access wavelengths in the MIR, far-infrared or terahertz spectral region. This makes OPOs very valuable for potential applications in biomedical, security, defense, and environment monitoring. In terms of environmental monitoring, robust portable MIR sources with high wall-plug efficiencies and small dimensions are required, something that OPOs can offer. Despite their amazing capabilities, OPOs have so far not found widespread use as commercial products due their complexity. Society and research communities can reap the benefits of successful research studies on developing compact and robust OPOs. In our collaborative project with O/E-Land Inc., our goal is to develop a compact and robust OPO system. More specifically, the wavelength of the OPO will be controlled by translating a fan-out PPMgLN crystal in a low finesse intracavity Fabry-Perot. The OPO will be pumped by a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) structure fiber laser with excellent characteristics. The pump pulses from the MOPA will have a rectangular shape, which is theoretically proved to improve the OPO's performance, compared with the Gaussian pump pulse. The seed of MOPA generates tunable optical pulses from 250 ps to 1ns duration using a 1064 nm band gain-switched laser diode pulse oscillator. A passive FBG will be introduced in the MOPA to reshape the input pulse to maximize the average output power and efficiency of the MOPA. Consequently, it is expected that the MOPA's average output power will be doubled thus enabling more average power in the MIR. This compact MIR source will have important applications in various sectors of human activities from manufacturing, biomedical, security, and defence.

我们将演示在中红外 (MIR) 光谱区域工作的低重复率连续可调光学参量振荡器 (OPO)。 OPO 是一种类似于激光的光源，也使用谐振器，但基于非线性晶体中的参量放大而不是受激发射的光学增益。 OPO 的一个主要吸引力在于信号波长和闲频波长可以在很宽的范围内变化。因此，可以获取中红外、远红外或太赫兹光谱区域的波长。这使得 OPO 在生物医学、安全、国防和环境监测方面的潜在应用非常有价值。在环境监测方面，需要具有高墙壁插头效率和小尺寸的强大便携式 MIR 源，而 OPO 可以提供这些。尽管 OPO 具有惊人的功能，但由于其复杂性，迄今为止尚未广泛用作商业产品。社会和研究团体可以从开发紧凑而强大的 OPO 的成功研究中获益。在我们与 O/E-Land Inc. 的合作项目中，我们的目标是开发紧凑且强大的 OPO 系统。更具体地说，OPO 的波长将通过在低精细腔内法布里-珀罗中平移扇出 PPMgLN 晶体来控制。 OPO将由具有优良特性的主振荡器功率放大器（MOPA）结构光纤激光器泵浦。 MOPA 的泵浦脉冲将具有矩形形状，理论上证明与高斯泵浦脉冲相比可以提高 OPO 的性能。 MOPA 的种子使用 1064 nm 波段增益开关激光二极管脉冲振荡器生成持续时间从 250 ps 到 1ns 的可调谐光脉冲。 MOPA 中将引入无源 FBG 来重塑输入脉冲，从而最大限度地提高 MOPA 的平均输出功率和效率。因此，预计 MOPA 的平均输出功率将增加一倍，从而在 MIR 中实现更高的平均功率。这种紧凑的中红外光源将在人类活动的各个领域（从制造、生物医学、安全和国防）具有重要的应用。