RESUMEN
We investigate a new method of coercive field engineering for periodic poling of RbKTiOPO4 (RKTP). By ion exchanging RKTP in a molten salt containing 7â mol% Ba(NO3)2 and 93â mol% KNO3 we achieve more than an order of magnitude difference in polarization switching time between the exchanged and non-exchanged regions. This method is used to fabricate periodic gratings of 2.92â µm in 1 mm thick bulk RKTP for second harmonic generation at 779â nm with a normalized conversion efficiency of 2%/Wcm. We show that the poled domain structures are stable at 300 °C, and that there is no bulk refractive index modification associated with the periodic ion exchange.
RESUMEN
A stable, narrow-bandwidth (274â MHz) backward wave optical parametric oscillator (BWOPO) generating mJ-level backward signal at 1885nm and forward idler at 2495â nm is presented. The BWOPO was pumped by a single-longitudinal mode, Q-switched Nd:YAG high-energy laser at 1064â nm. We show that multi-transversal mode pumping leads to the spectral broadening of the BWOPO backward signal and the generation of nanosecond pulses 2.7 times above the Fourier transform limit. We demonstrate over 100â GHz continuous tuning of the parametric output by adjusting the temperature of the BWOPO crystal, showcasing the significant role of thermal expansion in tuning performance. The BWOPO signal was used as a seed for a single-stage PPRKTP optical parametric amplifier (OPA) to boost the narrowband signal and idler energies to 20 mJ. This combination of mJ-level BWOPO seed with a single-stage PPRKTP OPA comprises a simple concept that would benefit long-range differential absorption lidar (DIAL) in the near and mid-infrared regions.