Tailoring the pulse characteristics of LiBO-based femtosecond optical parametric oscillators by temperature tuning.

We show that the phase mismatch in LiBO (LBO) crystals is approximately proportional to the temperature deviation from the phase-matching temperature of crystals. Moreover, a fixed temperature deviation would result in approximately the same amount of phase mismatch over a large range of wavelengths. Based on this, we demonstrate that the pulse characteristics of LBO-based femtosecond optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) can be tailored by simply tuning the crystal temperature.

Phase-mismatched optical parametric oscillators based on aperiodic quasi-phase-matched crystals.

We present that femtosecond optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) based on aperiodic quasi-phase-matched (AQPM) crystals can be configured to operate in the "phase-mismatched" region. The phase-mismatch-induced frequency chirp is mainly introduced by the subcrystal that first interacts with pump pulses. By optimizing the intracavity group velocity dispersion and by selecting the direction of crystals, OPOs based on AQPM crystals could support the generation of wavelength-tunable, transform-limited pulses in an all-normal-dispersion cavity.

Tunable femtosecond optical parametric oscillators resonating at 0.65-1.02 µm and 1.07-2.3 µm.

We present a singly resonant femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) cavity architecture supporting ultra-broadband wavelength tuning and efficient outcoupling of the generated optical pulses. Experimentally, we demonstrate an OPO with its oscillating wavelength tuned over 652-1017 nm and 1075-2289 nm, spanning nearly 1.8 octaves.