NONLINEAR OPTICAL RAMAN DEVICES WITH ZIG-ZAG BEAM PATHS

Abstract

The invention is a nonlinear Raman optical device generating zig-zag radiation beam paths in a nonlinear medium having dichroic coatings reflecting at a pump radiation wavelength, with a first mirror between an injected beam of pump radiation and a first end of the nonlinear medium and a second mirror at a second end of the nonlinear medium, the second mirror being partially reflecting at a first Stokes wavelength of the pump radiation.

Claims

1. A nonlinear Raman optical device suitable for generating a beam of coherent radiation, said optical device comprising: a nonlinear medium having a first end and a second end spaced apart at a specified length, said nonlinear medium further having a first side wall with a first optically polished surface and a second side wall with a second optically polished surface; a first dichroic coating on at least a portion of said first side wall, said first dichroic coating at least partially reflecting at a wavelength of pump radiation; a second dichroic coating on at least a portion of said second side wall, said second dichroic coating at least partially reflecting at said wavelength of pump radiation such that an injected beam of pump radiation follows a designated zig-zag beam path along said length of said nonlinear medium, with path bounce points at said dichroic coatings; a first mirror placed between said injected beam of pump radiation and said first end of said nonlinear medium, said first mirror being highly reflecting at a first Stokes wavelength of said injected beam of pump radiation; and a second mirror placed at said second end of said nonlinear medium, said second mirror being partially reflecting at said first Stokes wavelength; said dichroic coatings functioning to provide control of cascaded Raman generation beyond a specified Stokes wavelength of the coherent radiation generated by said nonlinear Raman optical device.

2. The optical device as in claim 1, wherein said first dichroic coating is highly reflecting at said wavelength of pump radiation.

3. The optical device as in claim 1, wherein said first dichroic coating is highly reflecting at said first Stokes wavelength.

4. The optical device as in claim 1, wherein said first dichroic coating is at least partially transmitting at a second Stokes wavelength of said injected beam of pump radiation.

5. The optical device as in claim 4, wherein said first dichroic coating is highly transmitting at said second Stokes wavelength for at least one said path bounce point at said first dichroic coating.

6. The optical device as in claim 1, wherein said first dichroic coating comprises a dichroic coating highly reflecting at a wavelength of said pump radiation and at said first Stokes wavelength, and wherein said first dichroic coating is at least partially transmitting at a second Stokes wavelength of said injected beam of pump radiation.

7. The optical device as in claim 1, wherein said first dichroic coating is at least partially transmitting at a non-resonated radiation wavelength such that non-resonated radiation energy is dumped from at least one said path bounce point.

8. The optical device as in claim 1, wherein at least one of said first mirror and said second mirror comprises a dichroic mirror.

9. The optical device as in claim 1, wherein said second dichroic mirror is highly transmitting at said pump radiation wavelength, resulting in a single-pass-pumped, singly-resonant optical parametric oscillator.

10. The optical device as in claim 1, wherein said second dichroic mirror is at least partially reflecting at said pump radiation wavelength, resulting in a two-pass-pumped optical parametric oscillator.

11. The optical device as in claim 1, wherein said nonlinear medium comprises a nonlinear Raman active medium resulting in a stimulated Raman laser resonator.

12. A nonlinear Raman optical device suitable for suppressing buildup of Stokes radiation in a beam of coherent radiation, said optical device comprising: a nonlinear medium having a first end and a second end spaced apart at a specified length, said nonlinear medium further having a first side wall with a first optically polished surface and a second side wall with a second optically polished surface; a first dichroic coating on at least a portion of said first side wall, said first dichroic coating being highly reflecting at a wavelength of a pump radiation beam, said first dichroic coating further being highly reflecting at a first Stokes wavelength of said pump radiation beam; a second dichroic coating on at least a portion of said second side wall, said second dichroic coating being highly reflecting at said pump radiation beam wavelength, said second dichroic coating further being highly reflecting at said first Stokes wavelength such that said pump radiation beam follows a designated zig-zag beam path within said nonlinear medium; a first dichroic mirror placed between an input pump radiation beam and said nonlinear medium first end, said first dichroic mirror being highly reflecting at said first Stokes wavelength; and a second dichroic mirror placed at said nonlinear medium second end, said second dichroic mirror being partially reflecting at said first Stokes wavelength.

13. The optical device as in claim 12, wherein said dichroic coatings are partially transmitting at a second Stokes wavelength of said pump radiation beam.

14. The optical device as in claim 12, wherein said first dichroic mirror is partially transmitting to a second Stokes wavelength of said pump radiation beam.

15. The optical device as in claim 12, wherein said dichroic coatings are partially transmitting to a third Stokes wavelength of said pump beam radiation and partially reflecting to a second Stokes wavelength of said pump radiation beam.

16. The optical device as in claim 12, wherein said first dichroic mirror is partially transmitting to a third Stokes wavelength of said pump radiation beam and partially reflecting to a second Stokes wavelength of said pump radiation beam.

17. A nonlinear optical device suitable for receiving input radiation beams and generating output beams of coherent radiation, said optical device comprising: a nonlinear medium having a first end spaced apart at a specified length from a second nonlinear medium end, said nonlinear medium further having a first side wall with a first optically polished surface spaced at a specified width from a second side wall with a second optically polished surface; a first dichroic coating on at least a portion of said first side wall, said first dichroic coating having a first window for receiving the input radiation beams, said first dichroic coating being highly reflecting for at least a first wavelength of a first input radiation beam, and being at least partially transmitting for a second wavelength of a second radiation beam; a second dichroic coating on at least a portion of said second side wall, said second dichroic coating being highly reflecting for said first wavelength, and being at least partially transmitting for said second wavelength, such that the input radiation beams follow designated zig-zag beam paths within said nonlinear medium, with path bounce points at said dichroic coatings; said first dichroic coating further being at least partially transmitting for a third wavelength of a third radiation beam, such that radiation of said third wavelength is dumped at one of said path bounce points; a second window disposed on one of said first side wall and said second side wall, said second window for enabling the output beams of coherent radiation to exit said nonlinear medium; whereby aspects of the emission of output radiation beams, which include conversion efficiency, beam quality, and a specific wavelength or a combination of wavelengths that emerge from said nonlinear optical device, are controlled by characteristics of said dichroic coatings.

18. The nonlinear optical device as in claim 17, wherein the input radiation beams comprise collinear input beams of coherent radiation.

19. The nonlinear optical device as in claim 17, wherein said first dichroic coating is at least partially transmitting at a non-resonated radiation wavelength so as to dump non-resonated energy at said zig-zag beam path bounce points.

20. The oscillator as in claim 17, wherein said specified length and said specified width of said nonlinear medium are selected so as to produce, in the input radiation beams, at least one of a specific number of zig-zag bounces, a specific zig-zag fold angle, and a specific zig-zag leg length in said zig-zag beam path.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] The foregoing aspects, uses, and advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood from the following detailed description of the present invention when viewed in conjunction with the accompanying figures, in which:

[0044] FIG. 1 shows a nonlinear medium having parallel side walls to create a zig-zag beam path through the nonlinear medium, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0045] FIG. 2 shows a nonlinear medium having non-parallel side walls with a designed wedge angle between them, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0046] FIG. 3 shows a nonlinear medium having windows through which the multiple interacting beams having different wavelengths enter and exit with refraction at the entrance and exit surfaces, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0047] FIG. 4 shows a nonlinear medium having entrance and exit “prisms” such that beams having different wavelengths do not refract at the entrance and exit surfaces, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0048] FIG. 5 shows a nonlinear medium in which critical phase-matching is employed, and in which critical phase-matching is achieved only in every other leg of the zig-zag beam path, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0049] FIG. 6 shows a nonlinear medium in which critical phase-matching is achieved in all legs of the zig-zag beam path, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0050] FIG. 7 shows a nonlinear medium in which critical phase-matching is achieved in all legs of the zig-zag beam path, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0051] FIG. 8 shows a nonlinear medium in which non-critical phase-matching (NCPM) is employed, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0052] FIG. 9 shows an alternative non-critically-phase-matched configuration in which a nonlinear medium is fabricated in a series of adjacent layers, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0053] FIG. 10 shows a configuration producing collinear propagation of interacting beams in a zig-zag beam path through a quasi-phase-matched nonlinear medium, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0054] FIG. 11 shows an alternative quasi-phase-matching configuration in which a nonlinear medium is fabricated in layers, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0055] FIG. 12 shows a nonlinear optical wavelength converter having a quasi-phase-matching nonlinear medium such that all beam legs of a zig-zag beam path can be quasi-phase-matched for the same set of interacting beam wavelengths, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0056] FIG. 13 shows a nonlinear optical wavelength converter having a quasi-phase-matching nonlinear medium in which a quasi-phase-matching grating vector is oriented perpendicularly to side walls of a nonlinear medium, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0057] FIG. 14 shows a nonlinear optical wavelength converter in which non-collinear propagation of interacting beams occurs within a nonlinear medium, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0058] FIG. 15 shows a two-mirror optical parametric oscillator, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0059] FIG. 16 shows a two-mirror optical parametric oscillator, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0060] FIG. 17 shows injection-seeded two-mirror optical parametric oscillators, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0061] FIG. 18 shows injection-seeded two-mirror optical parametric oscillators, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0062] FIG. 19 shows a one-pass optical parametric amplifier, or an optical parametric amplifier, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0063] FIG. 20 shows a Raman laser that generates the first-Stokes wavelength, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0064] FIG. 21 shows generalized use of the disclosed invention with multiple interacting beams and wavelengths;

[0065] FIG. 22 shows the disclosed invention used with a liquid- or gas-phase nonlinear medium contained within an optical cell;

[0066] FIG. 23 shows use of the disclosed invention with a square-shaped nonlinear medium;

[0067] FIG. 24 shows use of the disclosed invention with a square-shaped nonlinear medium; and

[0068] FIG. 25 shows a monolithic two-pass optical parametric amplifier, or an optical parametric amplifier, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0069] The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention. The detailed descriptions of embodiments provided below are intended only to be exemplary and explanatory and are not intended to be restrictive of, or on, the invention.

[0070] Unless indicated otherwise, “highly reflecting” indicates a high reflectivity value in the range of 95% R to 100% R at the wavelength in question, “partially reflecting (PR)” indicates a reflectivity in the range of 10% R to 95% R, “highly transmitting (HT)” indicates a transmission value in the range of 90% T to 100% T, and “partially transmitting (PT)” indicates a transmission in the range of 10% T to 90% T. However, in general, the terms HR, HT, PR, and PT are understood by someone well-versed in the art and the above definitions are not intended to be restrictive.

[0071] Unless indicated otherwise, the terms “resonated” and “resonated wave” refer to waves or emissions that are intended to build up to a relatively high intensity level within the optical parametric oscillator resonator or along the zig-zag path. All resonator mirrors and dichroic coatings are either highly reflecting (HR) or partially reflecting (PR) at the resonated wavelengths. Conversely, “non-resonated” wave refers to the emission or waves that are not intended to build to a high intensity level, and, if any build-up should occur, the non-resonated intensity is intended to be much lower than that of the resonated wave. In general, at least one mirror of the optical parametric oscillator resonator, or at least one bounce point on the dichroic coatings, has high-transmission (HT) at the non-resonated wavelength(s) as needed to keep intensity of the non-resonated wave in the optical parametric oscillator resonator, and along the zig-zag path, well below that of the resonated wave. An important aspect of the present invention is that the intensity of the non-resonated wave(s) is kept at a relatively low level, compared to the resonated wave(s), as needed to control back-conversion or some other aspect of the nonlinear conversion process.

[0072] In the discussions below, the term “bounce point” refers to a location at which a beam reflection occurs, and the beam propagation direction changes, as needed to configure the desired zig-zag beam path. The term “dichroic coating” is meant to indicate a dichroic thin-film or other coating, or a meso-, micro-, or nano-structured surface that provides the needed wavelength selectivity.

[0073] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a nonlinear optical wavelength converter 100 producing collinear propagation of interacting beams in a zig-zag beam path 120 through a nonlinear medium 102 having parallel side walls 104, 106 that establish the zig-zag beam path 120. Only one interacting beam 116 and one emitted beam 118 are shown for clarity of illustration. The upper side wall 104 and the lower side wall 106 are optically polished 108 and include a highly reflective dichroic thin-film 110 for most of the interacting beams in the beam path 120. The dichroic thin-film coatings 110 cover a portion of the respective upper side wall 104 and the lower side wall 106. The dichroic coatings 110 serve to reflect the interacting beams as needed to establish a zig-zag path having one or more reflection or “bounce points” 122, 124, 126, 128 on the upper side wall 104, and bounce points 123, 125, 127 on the lower side wall 106 and having legs 112, 114 of the zig-zag beam path 120. The bounce points 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127 are uniformly-spaced and the beam legs, for example beam legs 112 and 114, all have equal length. Beam path “fold angles A” are all equal, as measured at the bounce points 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127. One or both side walls 104, 106 have the dichroic thin-film 110, or other surface treatment, that is partially or completely transmitting at one or more of the interacting beam wavelengths. This configuration, produces dumped light 121 as needed at the one or both side walls 104, 106 to control some aspect of the nonlinear conversion process.

[0074] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of a nonlinear optical wavelength converter 130 producing collinear propagation of interacting beams in a zig-zag beam path 140 through a nonlinear medium 132 having non-parallel side walls 134, 136 that establish the zig-zag beam path 140. Because the side walls 134, 136 are non-parallel to each other, there is a designed “wedge angle B” of greater than zero degrees between side walls, and bounce points 142, 144, 146, 148 are non-uniformly spaced, the lengths of the legs 152, 154, 156, 158 get progressively longer (or shorter), and the fold angles at the bounce points get progressively larger (or smaller) along the zig-zag beam path 140, depending on the propagation direction through the nonlinear medium 132 (i.e., left to right, or right to left). The wedge angle B between the side walls may result in a situation where not all of the zig-zag beam legs are in the same geometric plane, but in most cases they are in the same geometric plane.

[0075] While most of the anticipated embodiments of the invention described below involve parallel side walls, there may still be some situations in which having a designed wedge angle between the reflecting side walls provides a useful advantage. For example, having a zig-zag beam path in which the fold angles are all slightly different, as a result of having a wedge angle, might be used to improve nonlinear conversion in a situation involving a pump beam with a relatively broad emission spectrum. Other examples might make use of a zig-zag path in which the leg lengths get progressively longer or shorter along the zig-zag path.

[0076] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of a nonlinear optical wavelength converter 160 producing collinear propagation of interacting beams in a zig-zag beam path 170 through a nonlinear medium 162 having parallel side walls 164, 166 that establish the zig-zag beam path 170. Incident interacting beams 172 of different wavelengths enter the nonlinear medium 162 through a “window” 174 in a side wall coating 168. A second window 176 enables outgoing interacting beams 178 to exit the nonlinear medium 162. The windows 174, 176 may be uncoated optically polished surfaces or anti-reflection-coated regions of the nonlinear medium 162. The incident interacting beams 172 will refract at different angles as they enter and then exit the nonlinear medium 162 as beams 178.

[0077] If the incident interacting beams 172 are aligned to be collinear within the nonlinear medium 162, then the outgoing interacting beams 178 will propagate at different angles upon exiting the nonlinear medium 162. Alternatively, if the incident interacting beams 172 are collinear upon entering the nonlinear medium 162, the interacting beams 172 will have slightly different propagation angles and will not be collinear inside the nonlinear medium 162. In an alternative embodiment, prisms 182, 184 may be positioned at the window 174 and the window 176, respectively, as shown in FIG. 4. The prisms 182, 184 are preferably in virtual or optical contact with the nonlinear medium 162 so that no refraction occurs at the respective prism/medium interfaces. The incident interacting beams 172 are normal to the surface of the prism 182 so that the incident interacting beams 172 do not refract upon passing into the nonlinear medium 162. Accordingly, the incident interacting beams 172 are collinear inside and outside the nonlinear medium 162. The outgoing beams 174 exit normal to the surface of the prism 184 so that no refraction occurs.

[0078] The invention can be used with various phase-matching schemes that are well-known in the art. These include critical phase-matching, non-critical phase matching, quasi-phase-matching, and non-collinear phase-matching. In all cases described here, and others that may not be, it is possible to change phase-matching conditions by changing the fold angles at the bounce points of the zig-zag beam path, e.g., by changing the angle(s) of the input beams or by rotating the nonlinear medium. As an example, changing the fold angles might implemented as a way to tune the output emission wavelength(s) of an optical parametric oscillator or optical parametric amplifier device.

[0079] FIG. 5 shows an exemplary embodiment of a nonlinear optical wavelength converter 200 fabricated from a critically-phase-matched nonlinear medium 202, here shown with parallel side walls 204, 206. Critical-phase matching is achieved only in every other beam leg 210, 212, 214, 216 of a zig-zag beam path 208. Each of the beam legs 210, 212, 214, 216 are oriented at an angle ‘C’ with a crystallographic axis 220 of the critically-phase-matched nonlinear medium 202. Critical-phase matching is not achieved in adjacent or alternate beam legs 211, 213, 215 of the zig-zag beam path 208 for the same set of interacting beam wavelengths because the angle ‘C′’ between each of the alternate beam legs 211, 213, 215 and the crystallographic axis 212 is substantially different from angle C. Depending on details of the nonlinear process being used, and design details of the side-wall coatings being used, the lack of phase-matching in the alternate beam legs 211, 213, 215 may have no consequences, or may have consequences such as “dephasing,” as well-known in the art, that could be detrimental to nonlinear conversion if not managed properly in the device design. In many cases, however, dumping one or more of the interacting wavelengths at the bounce points avoids dephasing problems.

[0080] There is shown in FIG. 6 an exemplary embodiment of a nonlinear optical wavelength converter 230 fabricated using a critically-phase-matched nonlinear medium 232, here shown with parallel side walls 234, 236. The nonlinear optical wavelength converter 230 achieves critical phase-matching (i) in all legs of a zig-zag beam path 240 and (ii) with the same set of interacting wavelengths. A crystal axis 238 has the property that non-critical phase-matching (NCPM) is achieved when all interacting beams propagate collinearly along the crystal axis 238. In the configuration shown, the crystal axis 238 is oriented parallel to the side walls 234, 236 of the nonlinear medium 232. In one pair of adjacent parallel zig-zag legs 242, 244 the beam propagation direction makes an angle ‘D’ with the crystal axis 238 such that a designed phase-matching scheme is achieved in the zig-zag legs 242, 244 for a set of interacting beam wavelengths. It should be noted that this set of wavelengths is different from the wavelength set that is phase-matched for collinear propagation parallel to the crystal axis 238.

[0081] The magnitude of propagation angle relative to the crystal axis 238 will be the same for an alternate set of adjacent parallel zig-zag legs 243, 245, 247, but with the opposite geometric sign, that is, oriented at an angle of ‘−D’ with respect to the crystal axis 238. If the intended phase-matching scheme is insensitive to such a change, then critical phase-matching may be achieved in the alternate set of adjacent parallel zig-zag legs 243, 245 and for the same set of interacting beam wavelengths as in the parallel zig-zag legs 242, 244.

[0082] FIG. 7 shows a similar critically-phase-matched nonlinear optical wavelength converter 250 that may achieve critical-phase-matching in all zig-zag legs 252 with the same set of interacting wavelengths, but with the difference that a non-critical phase matching axis 254 is oriented perpendicular to the parallel side walls 256, 258 of a nonlinear medium 260. It should be noted that the critical-phase-matching configurations of FIGS. 6 and 7 may be used to reduce the effects of “Poynting-vector spatial walk off” in the critically-phase-matched interaction so as to improve conversion efficiency, beam quality, or some other aspect of the nonlinear process. Note that the critically-phase-matched nonlinear optical wavelength converter 250 is alternatively configured such that incident interacting beams enter a window in the side wall 258, and emitted interacting beams exit a window in the opposite side wall 256.

[0083] FIG. 8 shows an exemplary embodiment of a nonlinear optical wavelength converter 270 producing collinear propagation of interacting beams in a zig-zag beam path 272 through a non-critically-phase-matched nonlinear medium 274 having parallel side walls 276, 278 that establish the zig-zag beam path 272. The nonlinear medium 274 is oriented so that for a set of adjacent parallel zig-zag legs 282, 284 the beam propagation direction is parallel to a crystal axis 280 that achieves non-critical phase-matching for a set of wavelengths. Accordingly, non-critical-phase-matching is not achieved in an alternate set of adjacent parallel zig-zag legs 283, 285, where the beam propagation direction is not parallel to the crystal axis 280, for the same set of interacting beam wavelengths.

[0084] Depending on details of the nonlinear process being used, and design details of the side-wall coatings being used, the lack of phase-matching in the alternate set of legs may have no consequences or may have consequences such as “dephasing” that could be detrimental to nonlinear conversion if not managed properly. It can be appreciated that dumping one or more of the interacting wavelengths at one or more bounce points can be used to mitigate the effects of any dephasing that may occur. FIG. 9 shows an exemplary embodiment of alternative non-critically-phase-matched configuration in which a nonlinear medium 290 is fabricated in a series of adjacent layers 292, 294, 296, 298, 300, 302, 304 so that a non-critically-phase-matched configuration axis 306 in each layer changes direction at each bounce point as needed to maintain non-critically-phase-matched configuration in all legs of the zig-zag beam path 308, and for the same set of interacting wavelengths.

[0085] FIG. 10 shows an exemplary embodiment of a nonlinear optical wavelength converter 320 producing collinear propagation of interacting beams in a zig-zag beam path 322 through a quasi-phase-matched nonlinear medium 324 having parallel side walls 326, 328 that establish the zig-zag beam path 322. The nonlinear medium 324 is oriented so that in one set of parallel, nonadjacent zig-zag beam legs 332, 334, the beam propagation direction is along a grating vector 330 of the quasi-phase-matched nonlinear medium 324. The direction and grating period of the grating vector 330 is designed to achieve quasi-phase-matching for a set of interacting beam wavelengths.

[0086] In comparison, quasi-phase-matching will not be achieved in an alternate set of parallel, nonadjacent zig-zag beam legs 333, 335, 337 for the same set of interacting beam wavelengths. Depending on details of the nonlinear process being used, and design details of the side-wall coatings being used, the lack of phase-matching in the alternate set of legs may have no consequences or may have consequences such as dephasing that could be detrimental to nonlinear conversion if not managed properly. In general, however, dumping one or more of the interacting wavelengths at one or more bounce points can be used to mitigate the effects of any dephasing that may occur. FIG. 11 shows an alternative quasi-phase-matching scheme in which a nonlinear medium 340 is fabricated in layers, similar to the configuration shown in FIG. 9. The corresponding grating vector 342 changes direction at each bounce point and remains parallel to the propagation direction of the interacting zig-zag beams in all beam legs. Quasi-phase-matching is thereby achieved in all beam legs of a zig-zag beam path 344 for the same set of interacting wavelengths.

[0087] FIG. 12 shows an exemplary embodiment of a nonlinear optical wavelength converter 350 configured to implement the present invention with a quasi-phase-matching nonlinear medium 352 such that all beam legs of a zig-zag beam path 354 can be quasi-phase-matched for the same set of interacting beam wavelengths, and so that all beam path legs can contribute to the nonlinear conversion process. Side walls 356, 358 of the nonlinear medium 352 are parallel. The nonlinear medium 352 is fabricated so that a quasi-phase-matching grating vector 360 is parallel to the side walls 356, 358. That is, the “grooves” of the periodically-poled grating (not shown) are perpendicular to the side walls 356, 358. In this case, each leg of the zig-zag beam path 354 makes the same angle ‘E’ with the grating vector direction, except for a change in geometric sign of the angle E for adjacent beam legs. Since quasi-phase-matching is not sensitive to this sign change, quasi-phase-matching is maintained for the same set of interacting beam wavelengths in each beam leg. This approach can also be used with the quasi-phase-matching grating vector 372 oriented perpendicularly to side walls of a nonlinear medium 370, as shown in FIG. 13.

[0088] FIG. 14 shows an exemplary embodiment of a nonlinear optical wavelength converter 380 in which non-collinear propagation of interacting beams 382 occurs within a nonlinear medium 384 with parallel sidewalls 386, 388. This configuration may apply, for example, when a designed non-collinear phase-matching scheme is used to phase-match a set of interacting beam wavelengths. In such a case, interacting beams 392, 394, 396 have designed angles ‘F’ and ‘G’ between their respective propagation directions. This means that the resulting zig-zag beam paths through the nonlinear medium 384 will differ from one another, with different legs lengths, different bounce point locations, and different fold angles at the bounce points. This results in a “geometric walk-off” between the beams that reduces their spatial overlap as they propagate. When implementing non-collinear phase-matching in accordance with the present invention, the non-collinear beams should follow “substantially the same zig-zag beam paths” having a similar number of bounce points, similar leg lengths, and similar fold angles. The fold angles in FIG. 14 are exaggerated for clarity of illustration, and would typically be much smaller in practice.

[0089] FIG. 15 shows a singly-resonant optical parametric oscillator 400 including a nonlinear optical wavelength converter 410, an input mirror 402, and an output mirror 404. The nonlinear optical wavelength converter 410 includes a nonlinear medium 406 with optically polished side walls 408, 409 that may be either parallel as shown, or non-parallel (i.e., wedged). Pump light 412 is injected into the optical parametric oscillator 400 through the input mirror 402 which is typically highly transmitting at the pump wavelength and may be highly reflective at the resonated signal (or alternatively the idler) wavelength. The input mirror 402 may be highly transmitting, highly reflective, or partially reflecting at the non-resonated idler (or alternatively the signal) wavelength. The output mirror 404 may be partially reflecting at the resonated signal wavelength so that a resonated signal light 414 is emitted from the nonlinear medium 406 in the forward direction.

[0090] It should be noted that the resonated wavelength signal increasing in intensity when passing through the optical parametric oscillator 400 can be either (a) the resonated signal or (b) the idler wave generated by the optical parametric oscillator 400, and that the non-resonated wavelength, not intended to build up to high intensity in the optical parametric oscillator resonator 400, is a different wavelength generated by the optical parametric oscillator 400.

[0091] Non-parallel side walls 408, 409 may be desirable in certain situations, such as when trying to achieve phase-matching and optical parametric oscillator operation over a broader wavelength range. A zig-zag beam path 416 through the nonlinear medium 406 is determined by how the input mirror 402 and the output mirror 404 are aligned relative to the nonlinear medium 406, and the three-dimensional orientation of the nonlinear medium 406 in space.

[0092] The optically polished side walls 408, 409 have respective dichroic coatings 418, 419 that are preferably highly reflective at the pump and signal (or alternatively the idler) wavelengths as needed (a) to pump the optical parametric oscillator 400 along most or all of the length of the zig-zag beam path 416, and (b) to resonate and build up the signal wavelength so that a much higher intensity is achieved inside the nonlinear optical wavelength converter 410 than the intensity of the idler wavelength. The dichroic coatings 418, 419 are partially transmitting or highly-transmitting at the non-resonated idler, or the signal, wavelength as needed to dump non-resonated energy 422 and keep the non-resonated wave intensity inside the nonlinear optical wavelength converter 410 much lower than that of the resonated signal light 414.

[0093] In some situations, the dichroic coatings 418, 419 may be designed to force the non-resonated wave intensity at the beginning of each zig-zag leg to a low level near or equal to the quantum noise level. The output mirror 404 can be partially transmitting or highly transmitting at the non-resonated idler (or alternatively the signal) wavelength. The output mirror 404 is highly transmitting at the pump wavelength, thereby resulting in a single-pass-pumped, singly-resonant optical parametric oscillator. This configuration results in dumping of the non-resonated energy 422 at bounce points 424 on only one side wall 408 of the nonlinear medium 406.

[0094] As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art, a singly-resonant optical parametric oscillator 430, shown in FIG. 16, can also be implemented by having an output mirror 434 be highly-reflecting or partially-reflecting at the pump wavelength, resulting in two-pass-pumping of the singly-resonant optical parametric oscillator 430. Two-pass pumping typically reduces optical parametric oscillator threshold. For two-pass pumping, non-resonated light 436 is dumped at bounce points on both sides 442, 444 of a nonlinear medium 438.

[0095] The pump beam 412 may, or may not be, collinear with a resonated signal output beam 446 at an output mirror 434. As the input-output prisms 402, 404, shown in FIG. 4, are not used in the configuration of FIG. 16, then the interacting beams may be collinear in the nonlinear medium 438, or may be collinear outside the nonlinear medium 438, but not both at the same because the interacting wavelengths would refract with slightly different angles at input-output windows of a dichroic coating 448. If the interacting beams are non-collinear inside the nonlinear medium 438, then the above comments relating to non-collinear phase-matching may apply even if the intended phase-matching scheme is collinear.

[0096] Zig-zag path parameters, along with design of side-wall dichroic coatings, may be adjusted to control back-conversion in an optical parametric oscillator and thereby improve optical parametric oscillator emission beam quality and other aspects of optical parametric oscillator emission. As an example, if back-conversion in an optical parametric oscillator is high enough to objectionably degrade optical parametric oscillator beam quality, the number of zig-zag bounces may be increased to reduce zig-zag fold angles and leg lengths, and, if necessary, the width of a nonlinear medium may be reduced (perhaps while increasing its overall length) so that a non-resonated wave is dumped after a shorter leg length and at more zig-zag bounces for each round trip through an optical parametric oscillator resonator.

[0097] An input mirror and an output mirror can be spaced apart by a sufficiently large distance so as to achieve a resonator Fresnel number equal to one, or near one, if such a low Fresnel number is desired. This feature allows independent control of back-conversion, by optimizing the internal zig-zag path, and resonator Fresnel number. As can be appreciated from the above disclosures, adjustment of input-output mirror separation to control the Fresnel number, and optimizing the number of bounces to control back-conversion, are key innovations of the present invention.

[0098] FIG. 17 shows an injection-seeded two-mirror optical parametric oscillator 450 including a nonlinear optical wavelength converter 452, a dichroic beam splitter/combiner mirror 454, an input mirror 456, and an output mirror 458. A pump beam 462 and an injected seed signal, or idler, beam 464 used to injection-seed the optical parametric oscillator 450 may be combined using the dichroic beam splitter/combiner mirror 454. The two beams 462, 464 may then be injected collinearly through the input mirror 456, which preferably has some reasonably high transmission at the pump beam wavelength and the injected seed signal beam wavelength.

[0099] Note that the pump and signal beams 462, 464 may be injected non-collinearly if the intended phase-matching process in the nonlinear operation is a non-collinear phase matching process. Non-resonated idler energy 466, is partially or completely transmitted at one or more bounce points 468. Because the seed signal beam 464 is at the resonated wavelength, the seed signal beam 464 traverses all or most legs of a zig-zag beam path 460. This configuration typically enables effective injection-seeding with less seed power or energy than might be needed in an alternative injection-seeding scheme, such as described below. A resonated-wave output beam 472 emerges through the output mirror 458 and has characteristics that may be controlled by the injection-seeding process, such as spectrally-narrowed emission spectrum, improved beam quality, or reduced optical parametric oscillator threshold/improved conversion efficiency.

[0100] As is well-known in the art, an optical parametric oscillator may also be injection-seeded by injecting light at the non-resonated idler (or alternatively the signal) wavelength, instead of the resonated signal (or alternatively the idler) wavelength, as a way to control emission properties of the signal, idler, or both. In FIG. 18, seed light 482 at a non-resonated wavelength that is partially, or completely, dumped at one or more bounce points 484, 486, 488, 489, may be used to injection-seed an optical parametric oscillator 480 by injecting light at the non-resonated wavelength into the optical parametric oscillator 480 at one or more of the bounce points 484, 486, 488. In such a configuration, the injected seed light 482 traverses only one or a few beam legs of a zig-zag path 490 as the injected seed light 482 is partially or completely transmitted at the one or more bounce points 486, 488, 489.

[0101] Such an optical parametric oscillator configuration requires more seed power or energy to achieve effective seeding, compared to the configuration of FIG. 17. If optical parametric oscillator gain bandwidth and coating bandwidths are large enough, seed light at several different non-resonated idler (or alternatively the signal) wavelengths (λ.sub.1, λ.sub.2, λ.sub.3 . . . ) may be injected at different bounce points 484, 486, 488, with each seed wavelength resulting in resonated-wave signal (or alternatively the idler) emission at the corresponding wavelengths dictated by Equation 1. This configuration can provide a straightforward way to make a rapidly line-tuned injection-seeded optical parametric oscillator, if the different seed wavelengths can be turned on and off in rapid succession.

[0102] The injection-seeded embodiments described in FIGS. 17 and 18 may be injection-seeded with one wavelength at a time, or with multiple wavelengths simultaneously, possibly resulting in injection-seeded operation at multiple signal and idler wavelengths simultaneously. The desired simultaneous multi-wavelength operation is achieved in practice by optimization of numerous optical parametric oscillator design and operating details.

[0103] FIG. 19 shows a single-pass optical parametric amplifier 500. A pump beam 502 and signal (or alternatively the idler) beam 504 to be amplified may be combined at a dichroic combiner mirror 506 and injected into a nonlinear medium 508 as Collinear phase-matching or non-collinear phase-matching may be used. A non-resonated idler (or alternatively the signal) beam 512 is partially or completely transmitted at one or more bounce points as needed to make each beam 502, 504 follow a designed zig-zag beam path 510, or paths, for example, to reduce back-conversion and improve beam quality of the signal (or alternatively the idler) beam 504 being amplified.

[0104] At the output of the optical parametric amplifier 500, a dichroic mirror 514 may be used to separate an amplified signal (or alternatively the idler) beam 516 from a residual pump beam 518. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the optical parametric amplifier 500 may be two-passed by reflecting the pump beam 502 and the signal beam 504 back into the nonlinear medium 508 such that the beams 502, 504 follow the same zig-zag path 510, but in the opposite direction. The two-pass optical parametric amplifier 500 may include a Faraday isolator (not shown) to isolate and use the resulting two-pass-amplified signal beam. The Faraday isolator is preferably designed for the signal wavelength and other appropriate beam separation optics.

[0105] FIG. 20 shows an exemplary embodiment of a Raman laser 520 including a nonlinear Raman active medium 522 forming a stimulated Raman laser resonator 530. The Raman medium 522 is capable of generating, via stimulated Raman scattering, a desired first-Stokes (S.sub.n) wavelength 526 when using a selected pump wavelength 524. Side walls 532, 534 of the nonlinear Raman active medium 522 may have dichroic coatings 536 designed to be (i) highly reflective at the pump wavelength 524 and the first Stokes wavelength 526, and (ii) partially or completely transmitting at a second-Stokes (S.sub.2) wavelength 528 as needed to suppress the build-up of the second-Stokes wavelength 528 emission in Raman laser resonator 530.

[0106] An input mirror 544 of the Raman laser resonator 530 may be designed to be highly reflective at the first-Stokes wavelength 526, and an output mirror 546 may be designed to be partially reflecting (PR) at the first-Stokes wavelength 526 so as to achieve an adequately low threshold for first-Stokes wavelength 526 build-up in the Raman laser resonator 520, considering the available pump power. This scheme may reduce conversion of first-Stokes wavelength 526 light into second-Stokes wavelength 528 light that would otherwise occur as first-Stokes wavelength 526 intensity builds up in the Raman laser resonator 530, thereby increasing the first-Stokes wavelength 526 light intensity, power, and energy that emerges through the output mirror 546 for a given pump power intensity level.

[0107] This scheme may be extended to generate higher-order Stokes wavelengths, and to stop the Raman conversion at S.sub.n, by making the side wall dichroic coatings 536 highly reflective at the pump wavelength 524 and at all wavelengths S.sub.1, S.sub.2 . . . S.sub.n and partially or completely transmitting at the S.sub.n+1 wavelength. This embodiment may be practical only in situations where the wavelength separation between the S.sub.n and S.sub.n+1 wavelengths is large enough to enable dichroic coatings having the required differential reflectivity/transmission at the two wavelengths. A possible advantage of using the invention to make such a Raman laser is that adjusting the fold angles of a zig-zag path 548 may be a way to finely adjust the cutoff wavelength of the side-wall dichroic coatings 536 so that the cutoff wavelength falls between the S.sub.n and S.sub.n+1 wavelengths, as needed to improve suppression of S.sub.n+1 generation.

[0108] FIG. 21 shows an exemplary embodiment of generic nonlinear optical device 550 in which two, three, four or even more input beams 552 interact along a zig-zag beam path 554 in a nonlinear medium 560 having side-walls 556, 558 that can be parallel sidewalls, as shown, or wedged sidewalls (not shown). The input beams 552 having respective wavelengths λ1, λ2, λ3 may be injected into the nonlinear medium 560 to generate additional wavelengths via some designed nonlinear process that occurs in the nonlinear medium 560. Some dumped light 562 at wavelengths λ4, λ5, λ6 may be partially or completed transmitted at one or more bounce points along the zig-zag beam path 554, and the dumped wavelengths may be the same as or different from the injected wavelengths λ1, λ2, λ3. Some output wavelengths 564 (i.e., λ7, λ8, λ9) may emerge from the nonlinear medium 560 as useful emission, some wavelengths may emerge from the nonlinear medium 560 as residual (unconverted) input light, and some wavelengths may emerge from the nonlinear medium 560 as light generated in the nonlinear medium 560 that might not useful (i.e., “by-product” wavelengths). The output wavelengths 564 may be the same as, or different from, the input wavelengths 552 and the dumped wavelengths 562.

[0109] The interacting beams 552 may all be collinear and follow the same zig-zag beam path 554. Alternatively, some or all beams may be non-collinear (i.e., propagate with a small angle between them) so that they do not follow identical zig-zag paths, but instead follow “substantially the same” zig-zag paths having a similar number of bounce points, similar leg lengths, and similar fold angles.

[0110] Side-wall dichroic coatings 566 may be designed to be highly reflective at one or more wavelengths, and partially or completely transmitting at one or more of the interacting beam wavelengths. The side-wall dichroic coatings 566 may be designed to dump light on one or both sides of the nonlinear medium 560. The side wall coatings 566 may be “masked” during the optical coating process so that (a) light is dumped at some bounce points 572, 574, 576, 578 along the zig-zag beam path 554 and not others, or (b) so that some wavelengths may be dumped at some of the bounce points 572. 574, 576, 578 and different wavelengths may be dumped at other of the bounce points 572. 574, 576, 578.

[0111] The side-wall coatings 566 and other aspects of the zig-zag configuration (e.g., number of bounce points, fold angles, leg lengths, etc.) may be designed to control some aspect of the emission that emerges from the generic nonlinear optical device 550 after following the complete zig-zag beam path 554. Aspects of the emission that may be controlled include conversion efficiency, beam quality, and the specific wavelength or combination of wavelengths that emerges from the optical parametric oscillator 550, among others.

[0112] There is shown in FIG. 22 an exemplary embodiment of an optical parametric oscillator 580, or other nonlinear optical device, in which a nonlinear medium 582 may consist of a liquid- or gas-phase material rather than a solid-state material as in the embodiments disclosed above. The liquid- or gas-phase nonlinear medium 582 may be contained within an optical cell 584. The optical cell 584 may be filled so that at least some, if not all, of a zig-zag beam path 586 passes through, or is immersed within, the nonlinear medium 582. Both side walls 592, 594 of the optical cell 584 may have thin-film coatings 588 or other optical coatings designed to be highly reflective at one or more wavelengths, and partially or completely transmitting at one or more of input beam 590 wavelengths, λ1, λ2, λ3, for example. The thin-film coatings 588 may be designed to work as expected when the optical cell 584 is filled with the nonlinear medium 582. Dumped light 596 at wavelengths λ4, λ5, λ6, for example, may be emitted at bounce points on the side walls 592, 594 and output wavelengths λ7, λ8, λ9, for example, may be emitted as an output signal 598.

[0113] FIG. 23 shows an exemplary embodiment of an optical parametric oscillator 600, or other nonlinear optical device, in which a square-shaped nonlinear medium 610 includes a thin-film coatings 612, 614, 616 or other optical coatings on three respective side walls 602, 604, 606, with at least one side wall 604 having a dichroic coating 614 where some wavelengths can be partially or completely transmitted, or dumped. A fourth wall 608 may be uncoated, or may have an appropriate anti-reflection coating 618, so that beams may enter and exit the nonlinear medium 610. In essence, this configuration is a three-bounce, four-leg zig-zag path 620 that is folded on itself to make a square-ring path. This configuration may be used with solid, liquid, and gaseous nonlinear media. For the solid-state nonlinear medium 610, having a phase-matching axis 622, that is, a QPM grating vector direction or a non-critical phase-matching axis, such that the desired phase-matching may be achieved in two, or all four, legs of the square beam path 620 for the same set of interacting beam wavelengths. This phase-matching axis 622 may also be rotated by 90 degrees, as shown in FIG. 24 while still achieving the desired phase-matching in the nonlinear medium 610 in two or all four beam legs of the square beam path 620.

[0114] FIG. 25 is an exemplary embodiment of the invention functioning as a monolithic two-pass optical parametric amplifier 630. In this configuration, interacting beams make two passes through the optical parametric amplifier 630 and, without the need for a Faraday isolator, input and output beams are separated “geometrically.”

[0115] Input beam(s) 632 may enter at a first surface 634 of a nonlinear medium 636. Output beam(s) 638 may exit at the first surface 634. The first surface 634 may be uncoated or AR-coated. At least one of side walls 642, 644 may have a dichroic coating 646 that is partially or completely transmitting at specified wavelengths to be dumped. An end wall 648 may have the same dichroic coating 646 as the side walls 642, 644. Alternatively, (a) the end wall 648 may have a highly reflective coating at all or some of the interacting wavelengths, or (b) the end wall 648 may be uncoated so that total internal reflection (TIR) occurs at the internal surface of the end wall 648.

[0116] The configuration shown in FIG. 25 may be used with solid, liquid, or gaseous nonlinear media. If a solid-state nonlinear medium 636 is used, a phase-matching axis 650 may be oriented along a non-critical phase-matching axis of the bulk nonlinear medium 636. Alternatively, the phase-matching axis 650 may be oriented along a grating vector direction of a periodically-poled nonlinear material designed for quasi-phase-matching. As shown, and depending on various design details, every other beam leg, or all beam legs, of zig-zag path 652 may achieve phase-matching for the same set of interacting wavelengths. In another exemplary embodiment, the phase-matching axis 650 may be rotated by 90 degrees from that shown in FIG. 25 while still maintaining phase-matching in every other beam leg, or in all beam legs, depending on various design details. As someone versed in the art will appreciate, external mirrors (not shown) can be placed around the optical parametric amplifier 630 to make a ring optical parametric oscillator device.

[0117] The detailed descriptions of embodiments provided above are intended only to be exemplary and explanatory and are not intended to be restrictive of the invention. The word “parallel” is used to indicate “nominally parallel” optical surfaces that are parallel within standard optical fabrication tolerances, and is not meant to indicate that surfaces must be exactly parallel. Unless indicated otherwise, the term “wedged” or “non-parallel” is meant to indicate that optical surfaces have a designed angle between them of 0.1 degrees or more, and at least one such angle in at least one geometric plane.

[0118] The thin-film or other optical coatings that establish the zig-zag beam path may be coated directly onto the side walls of the nonlinear crystal or medium. Alternatively, they may be coated onto one or two separate and discrete optical substrates that may be positioned at or near the side walls of the nonlinear medium and aligned so as to create the desired zig-zag path within the nonlinear medium. In the latter case, the side walls of the nonlinear medium may be AR-coated at one or more of the interacting beam wavelengths, or the side walls may be uncoated, so that the legs of the zig-zag path may enter and exit the nonlinear medium.

[0119] The dichroic optical coatings that establish the zig-zag beam path may be standard thin-film optical coatings that are well known in the art. However, the walls that establish the zig-zag path may have any dichroic optical coating or surface treatment that provides different reflectivity or transmission values at different interacting beam wavelengths as needed to control some aspect of the nonlinear process. The “coating” may in fact not be thin-film coating at all, but instead may be a meso- or nano-structured surface that provides the required wavelength reflectivity values, transmission values, and selectivity.

[0120] The fold angles at the bounce points of the zig-zag beam path may span a wide range of values as long as the fold angles are not so large that total internal reflection (TIR) occurs at the side walls of the nonlinear medium. The maximum allowed fold angle depends on numerous details relating to the design of the nonlinear crystal or medium, but in most cases of interest it is easy to avoid the maximum allowed fold angle. In a case where non-parallel side walls are employed, thereby resulting in changing fold angles at the bounce points, TIR may occur at some of the bounce points and still be consistent with the spirit of the invention as long as (i) TIR does not occur at all of the bounce points, and (ii) dichroic coatings at the non-TIR bounce points are used to control some aspect of the nonlinear conversion.

[0121] The embodiments described above involve multiple interacting beams traversing a zig-zag beam path through a bulk solid-sate nonlinear crystal or medium. However, the invention may also be used with a nonlinear medium that acts as an optical waveguide for at least one of the interacting beam wavelengths, but in a plane that is orthogonal to the plane of the zig-zag beam path.

[0122] In general, each of the interacting beams that reflect at the bounce points may experience a different phase change according to details of the dichroic optical coating used on the side walls, the angle(s) of incidence of the reflecting beams at the bounce points, beam polarization, and other factors. This differential phase change may or may not be important depending on numerous design details, but should be considered when trying to optimize performance of the nonlinear optical device. For example, in an optical parametric oscillator or optical parametric amplifier, dephasing that may occur between the pump, signal, and idler beams at the bounce points may be detrimental to some aspect of device performance. When it happens, this situation can often be avoided or mitigated by ensuring that transmission of the dumped wave, at the one or more bounce points, is a high enough value so that the dumped wave builds up from a very low value in each leg of the zig-zag path. In some cases, it may be desirable to have near 100% transmission of the dumped wave at the bounce points so that the dumped wave is forced to build up a from a quantum noise level after each dumping occurrence.

[0123] Some of the embodiments described above involve an optical parametric oscillator having a two-mirror standing-wave resonator. It is readily understood by someone well-versed in the art that the invention may also be used with standing-wave or ring resonators having more than two mirrors.

[0124] It is to be understood that the description herein is only exemplary of the invention, and is intended to provide an overview for the understanding of the nature and character of the disclosed optical parametric amplifiers. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of various features and embodiments of the methods and devices of the invention which, together with their description serve to explain the principles and operation of the invention.