Andrius Zukauskas

5 mm thick periodically poled Rb-doped KTP for high energy optical parametric frequency conversion

A 5 mm thick periodically poled bulk Rb-doped KTiOPO4 (KTP) crystal with a period of 38.86 μm was fabricated by electric field poling. Chemical etching and optical evaluation show a high quality of ...

Tunable Mid-infrared ZnGeP2 RISTRA OPO pumped by periodically-poled Rb:KTP optical parametric master-oscillator power amplifier

A laser-diode pumped Q-switched single-frequency Nd:YAG MOPA operating at 100 Hz was used to generate tunable mid-infrared radiation between 6.27 µm and 8.12 µm by employing a cascaded parametric arrangement consisting of degenerate parametric master-oscillator power amplifier using a large aperture periodically-poled Rb:KTiOPO4 which in turn pumped a ZnGeP2 (ZGP) nonplanar RISTRA OPO. The noncollinear ZGP RISTRA tuning behavior is elucidated. The device is aimed for minimally invasive surgery applications at 6.45 µm where the peak power of 193 kW in 5 ns pulses is demonstrated.

Fabrication of submicrometer quasi-phase-matched devices in KTP and RKTP [Invited]

We review the techniques used for fabrication of bulk submicrometer ferroelectric domain gratings in KTiOPO4 (KTP) and demonstrate that bulk Rb-doped KTiOPO4 (RKTP) is an excellent candidate for im ...

Terahertz parametric generation and amplification from potassium titanyl phosphate in comparison with lithium niobate and lithium tantalate.

We report superior terahertz parametric generation from potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) over congruent-grown lithium niobate (CLN) and lithium tantalate (CLT) in terms of parametric gain and laser damage resistance. Under the same pump and crystal configurations, the signal emerged first from KTP, 5% Mg-doped CLN, CLN, and then finally from CLT. The signal growth rate in KTP was comparable to that in 5%-Mg-doped CLN, but the signal power from KTP reached a much higher value after all the other crystals were damaged by the pump laser. We further demonstrate seeded terahertz parametric amplification in an edge-cut KTP at 5.74 THz. The THz parametric amplifier (TPA) employs a 17-mm long KTP gain crystal, pumped by a passively Q-switched pump laser at 1064 nm and seeded by a continuous-wave diode laser tuned to the signal wavelength at 1086.2 nm. With 5.8-mJ energy in a 520-ps pump pulse and 100-mW seed signal power, we measured 5-W peak-power THz output from the KTP TPA with 22% pump depletion. In comparison, we measured no detectable THz output power from a similar edge-cut CLN TPA under the same pump power, detection scheme, and crystal configuration, when tuning the seed laser wavelength to 1072.2 nm and attempting to generate a radiation at 2.1 THz.

Intracavity-pumped, cascaded AgGaSe 2 optical parametric oscillator tunable from 5.8 to 18 µm

A AgGaSe2 nonlinear crystal placed in a coupled cavity is intracavity pumped by the ~1.85-µm signal pulses of a 1.064-µm pumped Rb:PPKTP doubly-resonant optical parametric oscillator (OPO) operating at a repetition rate of 100 Hz. Using two samples cut for type-I and II phase-matching, the overall idler tunability of the singly-resonant AgGeSe2 OPO covers an unprecedented spectral range from 5.8 to ~18 µm in the mid-IR.

High-power Continuous-wave Frequency-doubling in KTiOAsO4

We present efficient single-pass second harmonic generation at 533 nm by frequency doubling a high-power continuous wave fiber laser in KTiOAsO4 (KTA). The scheme provided 11.4 W of green power at a conversion efficiency of 25 %.

Counter-propagating parametric interaction with phonon-polaritons in periodically poled KTiOPO 4

Strongly enhanced backward stimulated polariton scattering (BSPS) is demonstrated in periodically-poled KTiOPO4 (KTP) crystals with a high power-conversion efficiency up to 70%. We study the physical mechanism of such counter-propagating parametric interaction with phonon-polaritons in χ(2) modulated structures. BSPS is a three-wave mixing that is distinguished from backward stimulated Raman scattering (BSRS), while a strong absorption at large polariton wave-vectors can still make BSPS display certain characteristics of BSRS such as self-compression of the Stokes pulse. We also compare BSPS with counter-propagating parametric oscillation in the near- and mid-infrared range, providing an estimation of the fabrication error margin to expect the outcome of their competition in the same device.

Nanosecond laser induced damage thresholds in KTiOPO4 and Rb:KTiOPO4 at 1 µm and 2 µm

Optimum design of high-energy cascaded parametric down-conversion schemes from 1 μm requires accurate knowledge of the laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of the nonlinear crystal employed. We report surface LIDT measurements in KTiOPO4 (KTP) and Rb:KTP (RKTP) with nanosecond pulses at 1.064 μm and 2.1 μm. LIDT results for nanosecond pulses at 2 μm for KTP and RKTP have not been previously reported to the best of our knowledge.

Quasi-periodic self-assembled sub-micrometer ferroelectric bulk domain gratings in Rb-doped KTiOPO4

We present a simple technique for fabricating quasi-periodic bulk sub-μm ferroelectric domain gratings in Rb-doped KTiOPO4 (RKTP) based on self-organized ferroelectric domain formation. One-dimensional ferroelectric domain structures, with an average periodicity of 650 ± 200 nm and extending throughout 1 mm thick crystals, are obtained by etching and subsequent electric field poling using planar electrodes. The sub-μm structures in RKTP were used to demonstrate 5th order non-collinear quasi-phase matched backward second harmonic generation.

Periodically poled KTiOAsO4 for highly efficient midinfrared optical parametric devices

We demonstrate high pattern-fidelity periodic poling of KTiOAsO4 at room temperature. The periodically poled crystal shows a deff of 10.1 pm/V and is used in an optical parametric oscillator pumped at 1064 nm to generate parametric radiation at 1538 and 3452 nm with a conversion efficiency of 45%.