Theory of self phase-locked optical parametric oscillators

Summary form only given. The synthesis of a comb of phase-coherent (sub) harmonic optical radiation (/spl omega/,2/spl omega/,..., N/spl omega/) is useful in high precision optical measurements (optical frequency metrology). Such a comb can also be the starting basis for the generation of attosecond pulse train by Fourier synthesis, provided that a proper control of the relative phase between the comb component can be implemented. The high conversion efficiencies and coherence properties of optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) combined with the engineering flexibility offered by periodically poled (PP) nonlinear materials may allow a compact implementation of such subharmonic generators. In this work, we analyze the plane-wave nonlinear dynamics of a doubly (DRO) or triply (TRO) resonant OPO phase-matched for a divide-by-3 frequency of a pump laser.