Transient dynamics of CW intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillators

Author

Turnbull, Graham A. ; Stothard, David J M ; Ebrahimzadeh, Majid ; Dunn, Malcolm H.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Phys. & Astron., St. Andrews Univ., UK

Volume

35

Issue

11

fYear

1999

fDate

11/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1666

Lastpage

1672

Abstract

We study the transient dynamics of CW intracavity, singly-resonant optical parametric oscillators (ICSROs). Relaxation oscillations of the 1064-nm pump light are measured, in both the presence and absence of parametric conversion, in a periodically poled LiNbO₃ (PPLN) CW ICSRO pumped intracavity to a Nd:YVO₄ laser. The presence of parametric conversion is shown to significantly increase both the damping times and oscillation frequencies of the dynamics; at three times the parametric oscillator threshold, these take values of 200 μs and 2 MHz, respectively. Oscillation frequencies are shown to be in good agreement with theoretical values. The influence of energy diffusion and thermal lensing are analyzed to account for discrepences between measured and theoretical damping times. We discuss the implications of the dynamic behavior to the stable-power operation of CW ICSROs

Keywords

damping; dielectric polarisation; diffusion; lithium compounds; optical parametric oscillators; optical pumping; thermal blooming; transients; 1064 nm; 200 mus; CW intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillators; LiNbO₃; Nd:YVO₄ laser; PPLN CW ICSRO; YVO₄:Nd; damping times; energy diffusion; nm pump light; oscillation frequencies; parametric conversion; parametric oscillator threshold; periodically poled; relaxation oscillations; stable-power operation; thermal lensing; transient dynamics; Damping; Frequency conversion; Laser excitation; Laser theory; Nonlinear optics; Optical pumping; Oscillators; Pump lasers; Resonance; Thermal lensing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.798090

Filename

798090