In one aspect, a method is provided for generating supercontinuum laser pulses within a continuous mid-infrared spectral range in a chalcogenide material. This method includes focusing an input laser beam of femtosecond pulses with a pulse energy higher than 10 microjoule along an optical path of the input laser beam; placing a chalcogenide material at a selected location along the optical path of the laser beam so that the laser intensity at the chalcogenide material is sufficiently high to cause nonlinear optical absorption that causes conversion of input optical energy into supercontinuum laser pulses of a pulse energy at or above a microjoule level at optical wavelengths within a broad continuous mid-infrared spectral range without damaging the chalcogenide material; and simultaneously moving the chalcogenide material laterally relative to the input laser beam to avoid damage to the chalcogenide material.

In a high power optical system, a thermal waveguide including an optical material having an index of refraction sensitive to changes in temperature, the rectangular optical material having a first dimension and a second dimension in a horizontal plane and a third dimension in a vertical plane, the third dimension being approximately ten times smaller than the first and second dimension, at least one heat sink thermally coupled to the optical material to establish a one-dimensional thermal gradient across the third dimension of the optical material, the thermal gradient having a parabolic profile across the rectangular optical material, and wherein the optical material is configured to act as a waveguide when a laser beam having a power of greater than one watt is incident upon the optical material.

A laser component is provided, including a laser medium and a transparent heat transmitting member, at least one of which is oxide. Bonding surfaces of the laser medium and the transparent heat transmitting member are exposed to oxygen plasma, and thereafter the bonding surfaces are brought into contact without heating. The laser medium and the transparent heat transmitting member are bonded at atomic levels, their thermal resistance is low, and no large residual stress is generated due to the bonding taking place under normal temperature. The process of oxygen plasma exposure ensures transparency of their bonding interface. The laser medium and the transparent heat transmitting member are stably bond via an amorphous layer.

Embodiments are directed to a (quasi) one-dimensional photonic crystal cavity. This cavity comprises a set of aligned pillars, where the pillars are embedded in a cladding. At least one of the pillars has a sandwich structure, wherein a layer of nonlinear optical material is between two layers of materials having, each, a refractive index that is higher than the refractive index of the nonlinear optical material. Embodiments can further include an all-optical modulator or an all-optical transistor, comprising a photonic crystal such as described above. Finally, embodiments are further directed to methods for modulating an optical signal, using such a photonic crystal cavity.

The present invention is notably directed to a (quasi) one-dimensional photonic crystal cavity. This cavity comprises a set of aligned pillars, where the pillars are embedded in a cladding. At least one of the pillars has a sandwich structure, wherein a layer of nonlinear optical material is between two layers of materials having, each, a refractive index that is higher than the refractive index of the nonlinear optical material. The invention can furthermore be embodied as an all-optical modulator or an all-optical transistor, comprising a photonic crystal such as described above. Finally, the invention is further directed to methods for modulating an optical signal, using such a photonic crystal cavity.

An optical arrangement for enlarging spectral bandwidths by nonlinear self-phase modulation for shortening ultrashort pulses using a multipass cell and a nonlinear medium. The nonlinear medium is arranged within the multipass cell, and a laser beam having ultrashort pulses passes through the nonlinear medium multiple times. The laser beam is coupled into the multipass cell by way of a shaping optical unit. The laser beam is shaped into an astigmatic beam and coupled into the multipass cell by way of the shaping optical unit.

A laser frequency conversion system with ultraviolet-damage mitigation includes a nonlinear crystal for frequency converting a laser beam, and a one-dimensional beam expander arranged to receive the laser beam from the nonlinear crystal and expand a first transverse dimension of the laser beam. This expansion protects subsequent optical elements from ultraviolet damage. To mitigate ultraviolet damage to the nonlinear crystal and the beam expander, the system also includes one or more translation stages configured to translate the nonlinear crystal and the beam expander along a translation direction that is orthogonal to the first transverse dimension of the laser beam and non-parallel to a propagation direction of the laser beam through the nonlinear crystal and the beam expander.