A parametric oscillator directly pumped by a 1.55µm erbium fibre laser

Abstract

We report what is believed to be the first demonstration of an optical parametric oscillator directly pumped by the 1.55 μm output of an erbium-doped fiber laser. The oscillator, based on periodically poled lithium niobate, produced 8 μJ idler output near 3.8 μm at a 500 Hz repetition rate when it was pumped with 100 μJ 60-ns pulses at 1.55 μm. Temperature tuning of the 50 mm long PPLN crystal gave signal and idler ranges of 2.55 to 2.7 μm and 3.65 to 3.96 μm, respectively, limited by mirror ref lectivity. A signal-tuning range of 40 nm was observed for 13.5 nm of pump tuning with a fixed grating period and temperature. The optical parameter oscillator could be operated at low temperature with no sign of photorefractive damage.

Optics Letters (1999) Vol.24(14) pp.975-977

doi: 10.1364/OL.24.000975

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