Axel Heuer

Compact white-light source with an average output power of 2.4 W and 900 nm spectral bandwidth

Abstract The appropriate combination of a passively mode-locked Nd:YVO 4 pump laser with 10 ps pump pulse duration at 1064 nm and a dispersion-adapted air–silica microstructured fiber generates efficiently supercontinuum radiation with an average power of 2.4 W in a spectral range from 700 to 1600 nm. The presented setup allows a very compact design of the white-light source. By means of experimental results will be shown, that newly generated frequency components mainly originate from self-phase modulation, parametric four-wave mixing as well as stimulated Raman amplification.

Phase-conjugating stimulated Brillouin scattering mirror for low powers and reflectivities above 90% in an internally tapered optical fiber

A novel low-power phase-conjugating mirror based on stimulated Brillouin scattering in a quartz fiber with an internal taper is reported. A peak-power threshold as low as 500 W and a maximum reflectivity of 92% were obtained with 30-ns pulses from a Q -switched Nd:YAG laser. The maximum peak powers of 130 kW demonstrated a dynamic range of 1:260. Reliable operation in both single- and multiple-longitudinal-mode operation was observed with conjugation fidelities larger than 95%.

Wave-particle dualism and complementarity unraveled by a different mode

The precise knowledge of one of two complementary experimental outcomes prevents us from obtaining complete information about the other one. This formulation of Niels Bohr’s principle of complementarity when applied to the paradigm of wave-particle dualism—that is, to Young’s double-slit experiment—implies that the information about the slit through which a quantum particle has passed erases interference. In the present paper we report a double-slit experiment using two photons created by spontaneous parametric down-conversion where we observe interference in the signal photon despite the fact that we have located it in one of the slits due to its entanglement with the idler photon. This surprising aspect of complementarity comes to light by our special choice of the TEM01 pump mode. According to quantum field theory the signal photon is then in a coherent superposition of two distinct wave vectors giving rise to interference fringes analogous to two mechanical slits.

27-W average output power with 1.2*DL beam quality from a single-rod Nd:YAG laser with phase-conjugating SBS mirror

The beam quality of a single-rod Nd:YAG laser with large mode volume was improved almost up to the diffraction limit by using a phase-conjugating mirror (PCM) based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). A new resonator design was used with sulfur hexafluoride as the SBS medium. The laser is Q-switched by the nonlinear reflectivity of the PCM. The stable fundamental mode operation and high efficiency via large mode volume was guaranteed by the combination of a highly selective aperture setup and the SBS mirror. The system exhibits a temporal burst structure of up to 50 Hz and a repetition rate of 11 kHz within the burst. The single Q-switch pulse showed a width of 42 ns. The energy, width, and repetition rate of the Q-switch pulses within the burst can be adjusted by varying the parameters of the laser system.

A two-photon double-slit experiment

We employ a photon pair created by spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) where the pump laser is in the TEM01 mode to perform a Youngs double-slit experiment. The signal photon illuminates the two slits and displays interference fringes in the far-field while the idler photon measured in the near-field in coincidence with the signal photon provides us with ‘which-slit’ information. We explain the results of these experiments with the help of an analytical expression for the second-order correlation function derived from an elementary model of SPDC. Our experiment emphasizes the crucial role of the mode function in the quantum theory of radiation.

High brightness, tunable biphoton source at 976 nm for quantum spectroscopy

A compact all solid state continuous-wave biphoton source, tunable around 488 nm, for quantum spectroscopic applications based on a frequency doubled diode laser system is presented. Copolarized photon pairs in the fundamental transversal mode could be generated at 976 nm by spontaneous parametric down conversion inside a type-0 quasi phase matched periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide crystal with an efficiency of 8-10(-6). A high flux rate greater than 10(7) photon pairs per second has been achieved at pump powers in the muW range resulting in more than 7-10(9) photon pairs/s-mW. Further a detailed investigation of the spectral behavior and the flux rate as a function of the detuning from the degenerated case is presented.

Phase memory across two single-photon interferometers including wavelength conversion

Detailed investigations of single photon 1st-order interferences of separated emitters allow for analyzing the role of the mode function in quantum optics. In an earlier Youngs double slit experiment using a higher spatial light mode some possibly new aspects of complementarity were demonstrated. Here the chances of using induced coherence in spontaneous down conversion (SPDC) are experimentally investigated. SPDC in a nonlinear crystal generates two single photons (signal and idler) with random, but conjugated phases. Thus no interference between them occurs. But coherence can be induced between the two separated crystals. Decreasing the pump intensity allows the generation of just one photon pair from one of the crystals during one measuring interval, resulting in 1st-order interference of single photons. Varying the phase delay between the pump beams for the two crystals results in 1st-order single photon interference but with a fringe period of about half of the photon wavelength. This phase memory effect causes coherence across the two coupled interferometers. And even for pump photon delays much larger than the coherence length of the detected single photons the visibility is above 90 percent. Therefore this phase memory is a useful tool for investigating the wave-particle dualism in future experiments.

Low-power phase conjugation based on stimulated Brillouin scattering in fiber amplifiers

Phase-conjugating stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) mirrors are frequently used to improve the brightness of solid-state lasers. With a scheme for designing fiber amplifiers as SBS phase conjugators the power requirements can be decreased by orders of magnitude; yet only low coherence is required, and high fidelity is reached. A peak power of 5 W was demonstrated to be sufficient for optical SBS phase conjugation.

Complementarity in biphoton generation with stimulated or induced coherence

Coherence can be induced or stimulated in parametric down-conversion using two or three crystals when, for example, the idler modes of the crystals are aligned. Previous experiments with induced coherence [Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 053601 (2015)] focused on which-path information and the role of vacuum fields in realizing complementarity via reduced visibility in single-photon interference. Here we describe experiments comparing induced and stimulated coherence. Different single-photon interference experiments were performed by blocking one of the pump beams in a three-crystal setup. Each counted photon is emitted from one of two crystals and which-way information may or not be available, depending on the setup. Distinctly different results are obtained in the induced and stimulated cases, especially when a variable transmission filter is inserted between the crystals. A simplified theoretical model accounts for all the experimental results and is also used to address the question of whether the phases of the signal and idler fields in parametric down-conversion are correlated.

Multi-Wavelength Operation of a Single Broad Area Diode Laser by Spectral Beam Combining

Stabilized multi-wavelength emission from a single emitter broad area diode laser (BAL) is realized by utilizing an external cavity with a spectral beam combining architecture. Self-organized emitters that are equidistantly spaced across the slow axis are enforced by the spatially distributed wavelength selectivity of the external cavity. This resulted in an array like near-field emission although the BAL is physically a single emitter without any epitaxial sub-structuring and only one electrical contact. Each of the self-organized emitters is operated at a different wavelength and the emission is multiplexed into one spatial mode with near-diffraction limited beam quality. With this setup, multi-line emission of 31 individual spectral lines centered around and a total spectral width of 3.6 nm is realized with a 1000 μm wide BAL just above threshold. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of such a self-organization of emitters by optical feedback utilizing a spectral beam combining architecture.