Title :
Characterization and modeling of a femtosecond optical parametric oscillator suitable for tunable pump-probe spectroscopy
Author_Institution :
US Naval Res. Lab., Washington, DC, USA
fDate :
1/1/1993 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
An improved cavity configuration continuous-wave mode-locked optical parametric oscillator (OPO) suitable for two-frequency femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy is described. The OPO is based on intracavity pumping of a KTiOPO4 (KTP) crystal in a colliding pulse mode-locked dye laser and produces femtosecond pulses at a 90 MHz repetition rate at average powers of 22 mW at 620 nm and 1-2 mW in the infrared. A model is synthesized from existing laser and parametric oscillator theories, and numerical simulations reproduce some qualitative aspects of the parametric oscillator´s behavior. The theory accurately predicts the renormalization properties of the pump pulses in the presence of a nonlinear intracavity loss, and the existence of megahertz intensity oscillations on the output power envelope for excessively self-phase modulated pump pulses
Keywords :
high-speed optical techniques; optical parametric oscillators; potassium compounds; 1 to 2 mW; 22 mW; 620 nm; KTiOPO4 crystal; average powers; cavity configuration continuous-wave mode-locked optical parametric oscillator; characterization; colliding pulse mode-locked dye laser; femtosecond optical parametric oscillator; infrared; intracavity pumping; megahertz intensity oscillations; model; nonlinear intracavity loss; numerical simulations; output power envelope; parametric oscillator theories; renormalization properties; repetition rate; self-phase modulated pump pulses; tunable pump-probe spectroscopy; two-frequency femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy; Laser mode locking; Laser theory; Nonlinear optics; Optical pulses; Optical pumping; Oscillators; Pulse modulation; Pump lasers; Spectroscopy; Ultrafast optics;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
