Disclosed is a device for interaction between a laser beam and a hyperfine energy transition of a chemical species. The device further includes an electro-optic modulator with a single sideband with an input optical waveguide suitable for receiving a source laser beam and an output optical waveguide suitable for generating an output laser beam and an electronic system suitable for generating and applying, simultaneously, a first modulated electrical signal, sin(Ω.sub.1t)) to a first hyperfrequency pulse on a first high-frequency electrode of the electro-optic modulator and, respectively, another modulated electrical signal, cos(Ω.sub.1t)) to the first pulse on another high-frequency electrode of the electro-optic modulator, in such a way as to frequency-switch the output laser beam to a first optical frequency offset from the first pulse with respect to the initial optical frequency.

An optical frequency mixing module is described that comprises a nonlinear medium for frequency mixing the photons of one or more input optical fields to generate an output optical field; a nonlinear medium tuner for automatically phase matching the nonlinear medium to the one or more input optical fields to select the wavelength of the output optical field generated by the nonlinear medium; and a first direction correcting optic. The position of the first direction correcting optic relative to the nonlinear medium is dependent upon the selected wavelength of the output optical field and therefore ensures that the position and angle of propagation of this field remains constant and independent of its wavelength of. The optical frequency mixing modules therefore provides a means for automatically selecting the wavelength of the output field with no deviation being imparted onto the position or angle of propagation of the output field.

A device for generating laser radiation includes a resonator, an optical assembly, and an adjustment device is provided. The optical assembly includes a movably arranged support element on which optical components are arranged, wherein an optical component is a device for deflecting laser radiation. The device for deflecting laser radiation of the optical assembly is arranged in the beam path of laser radiation generated by the resonator. The adjustment device changes the position of the optical assembly from a first position to another position relative to the resonator, wherein the position of the beam path of laser radiation emanating from the optical assembly in the first position remains unchanged by the adjustment of the optical assembly to the other position relative to the resonator. A corresponding method is also provided.

A supercontinuum radiation source including a modulator being operable to modulate pump laser radiation including a train of radiation pulses to provide modulated pump laser radiation, the modulation being such to selectively provide a burst of the pulses; and a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber being operable to receive the modulated pump laser radiation and excite a working medium contained within the hollow-core photonic crystal fiber so as to generate supercontinuum radiation.

A system for frequency conversion, comprises a laser source and a harmonic generation crystal. The laser source is configured to produce optical pulse energy of less than 100 μJ. The harmonic generation crystal comprises a structure characterized by a nonlinear susceptibility, and a crystal grating period which adiabatically varies along the longitudinal direction in a manner that the crystal grating period is inversely proportional to a crystal grating function of a coordinate z measured along the longitudinal direction.

An apparatus (such as a laser-based system) and method for providing optical pulses in a broad range of pulse widths and pulse energies uses a pulse slicer which is configured to slice a predefined portion having a desired pulse width of each of the one or more output optical pulses from a laser oscillator, in which timings of a rising edge and a falling edge of each sliced optical pulse relative to a time instance of a maximum of the corresponding each of the one or more output optical pulses from the laser oscillator, are chosen at least to maximize amplification efficiency of the optical amplifier, which may be located after the pulse slicer, and to provide the one or more amplified output optical pulses each having the desired pulse energy and pulse width.

A wavelength conversion system comprising a transport system for a laser beam comprising: a circular polarization laser beam; an articulated arm comprising a mirror at each of its joints, arranged at 45° with respect to said laser beam; each of said mirrors having a phase shift between the reflected components of less than 10°; means for converting said laser beam from circular polarization to linear polarization and providing a linear polarization output laser beam; a non-linear converter for converting the wavelength of said output laser beam to linear polarization.

Apparatus and methods for generating mid-IR frequency combs using intra-pulse DFG. A mode-locked pulse generation laser generates near-IR pulses which are amplified. The amplified pulses are spectrally broadened by a nonlinear element, for example a normal dispersion highly nonlinear fiber (ND-HNLF) to generate broadened pulses. The nonlinear spectral broadening element is a transparent dielectric material having a cubic nonlinear response. Broadened pulses are temporally compressed to generate short, high-power pulses which few-cycle conditioned pulses which are ready for the intrapulse DFG process. The DFG block generates a mid-IR comb by difference frequency generation. It might comprise an orientation patterned GaP (OP-GaP) crystal or a poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal.

[Object] There is provided a wideband extended pulsed light source that maintains uniqueness of an elapsed time with respect to a wavelength and does not collapse the uniqueness of an elapsed time with respect to a wavelength even when an output is increased.

[Solution] Light L1 from a pulsed laser source 11 is converted into supercontinuum light by a nonlinear element 12, is output as wideband pulsed light L2, and is caused to enter a pulse extension element 2. The pulse extension element 2 that is a multi-core fiber performs pulse extension in each of cores 211 and outputs wideband extended pulsed light L3. In the wideband extended pulsed light L3, an elapsed time and a wavelength in a pulse correspond to each other on one-to-one basis, and the wideband extended pulsed light L3 is used as light for spectrometry.

Embodiments of the disclosure provide an apparatus for emitting laser light and a system and method for detecting laser light returned from an object. The system includes a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter includes one or more laser sources, at least one of the laser sources configured to provide a respective native laser beam having a wavelength above 1,100 nm. The transmitter also includes a wavelength converter configured to receive the native laser beams provided by the laser sources and convert the native laser beams into a converted laser beam having a wavelength below 1,100 nm. The transmitter further includes a scanner configured to emit the converted laser beam to the object in a first direction. The receiver is configured to detect a returned laser beam having a wavelength below 1,100 nm and returned from the object in a second direction.