Resonant nonlinear laser beam converter
First Claim
1. An apparatus for generating an optical output beam, the apparatus comprising:
- an optical pump means for producing a first optical beam of a first frequency;
a first resonator cavity means for supporting buildup of selected optical power at said first frequency and at a second frequency within said first resonator cavity means, said first resonator cavity means being disposed to have an axis coincident with said first optical beam for admitting a portion of said first optical beam;
a first nonlinear element means in said first resonator cavity means which is phase matched for generating a second optical beam at said second frequency whose frequency is a harmonic multiple of the frequency of said first frequency; and
a second nonlinear element means in said first resonator cavity means for combining said first optical beam and said second optical beam and producing a third optical beam at a third frequency which is a linear combination of said first frequency and said second frequency.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Multiple step nonlinear conversion apparatus for optical frequencies which make use of resonant enhancement to increase net conversion efficiency. In one embodiment, two nonlinear converters are disposed in a single buildup cavity. In a second embodiment, two buildup cavities are provided, with one nonlinear element in each. In the single cavity configuration of the invention, the pump laser output is resonated in a buildup cavity and a first nonlinear element is used to generate the second harmonic. The second harmonic is resonated to enhance the doubling efficiency. A second nonlinear element mixes the pump beam and the second harmonic to produce an output beam at a linear combination of the two resonated frequencies. The conversion efficiency of the mixing is enhanced by the buildup factors at both the pump frequency and the second harmonic frequency. The buildup factors produced by the resonator enhance both the doubling and the mixing steps simultaneously. This is a versatile nonlinear conversion approach which applies both to frequency tripling and frequency quadrupling. In a special case, the third harmonic of the pump frequency is produced if the phase matching condition is adjusted to mix the laser frequency and the second harmonic. In a further special case, the fourth harmonic is generated when the phase matching is adjusted to mix the second harmonic beam with itself.
71 Citations
44 Claims
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1. An apparatus for generating an optical output beam, the apparatus comprising:
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an optical pump means for producing a first optical beam of a first frequency; a first resonator cavity means for supporting buildup of selected optical power at said first frequency and at a second frequency within said first resonator cavity means, said first resonator cavity means being disposed to have an axis coincident with said first optical beam for admitting a portion of said first optical beam; a first nonlinear element means in said first resonator cavity means which is phase matched for generating a second optical beam at said second frequency whose frequency is a harmonic multiple of the frequency of said first frequency; and a second nonlinear element means in said first resonator cavity means for combining said first optical beam and said second optical beam and producing a third optical beam at a third frequency which is a linear combination of said first frequency and said second frequency. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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4. A method for generating oscillations as a frequency shifted optical output beam, the method comprising the steps of:
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producing from an optical pump means a first optical beam of a first frequency;
thereuponresonating said first optical beam in a first resonator cavity means to build up selected optical power at said first frequency within said first resonator cavity means;
thereuponexciting a first nonlinear element means disposed within said first resonator cavity means with said first optical beam at a power level above a critical level to generate useful optical power in a second optical beam of a second frequency which is a harmonic multiple of the said first frequency;
thereuponresonating said second optical beam in said first resonator cavity means to build up selected optical power at said second frequency within said first resonator cavity means;
thereuponexciting a second nonlinear element means disposed within said first resonator cavity means with at least one of said first optical beam and said second optical beam at a power level above a critical level to generate useful optical power in a third optical beam of a third frequency which is a linear combination of said first frequency and said second frequency.
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5. An apparatus for generating an optical output beam, the apparatus comprising:
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an optical pump means for producing a first optical beam of a first frequency and a fourth optical beam of a fourth frequency; a first resonator cavity means for supporting buildup of selected optical power at at least said first frequency within said first resonator cavity means, said first resonator cavity means being disposed to have an axis coincident with said first optical beam for admitting a portion of said first optical beam; a first nonlinear element means in said first resonator cavity means which is phase matched for generating a second optical beam at a second frequency which is a linear combination of said first frequency and said fourth frequency; a second resonator cavity means for supporting buildup of selected optical power at at least said second frequency within said second resonator cavity means, said second resonator cavity means being disposed to have an axis coincident with said second optical beam for admitting a portion of said second optical beam; and a second nonlinear element means in said second resonator cavity means for combining said second optical beam and said fourth optical beam and producing a third optical beam at a third frequency which is a linear combination of said second frequency and said fourth frequency. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for generating oscillations as a frequency shifted optical output beam, the method comprising the steps of:
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producing from an optical pump means a first optical beam of a first frequency and a fourth optical beam of a fourth frequency;
thereuponresonating at least said first optical beam in a first resonator cavity means to build up selected optical power at at least said first frequency within said first resonator cavity means;
thereuponexciting a first nonlinear element means disposed within said first resonator cavity means with said first optical beam at a power level above a critical level to generate useful optical power in a second optical beam of a second frequency which is a harmonic multiple of the said first frequency;
thereuponresonating at least said second optical beam in a second resonator cavity means to build up selected optical power at at least said second frequency within said second resonator cavity means;
thereuponexciting a second nonlinear element means disposed within said first resonator cavity means with at least one of said second optical beam and said fourth optical beam at a power level above a critical level to generate useful optical power in a third optical beam of a third frequency which is a linear combination of said first frequency and said second frequency. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 43, 44)
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22. An apparatus for generating a frequency shifted optical output beam, the apparatus comprising:
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an optical pump means for producing a first optical beam of a first frequency and a fourth optical beam of a fourth frequency; a first resonator cavity means for supporting buildup of selected optical power at said first frequency and at said fourth frequency within said first resonator cavity means, said first resonator cavity means being disposed to have an axis coincident with said first optical beam for admitting a portion of said first optical beam and to have an axis coincident with said fourth optical beam for admitting a portion of said fourth optical beam; and a nonlinear element means in said first resonator cavity means, said nonlinear element means being oriented to phase match said first optical beam and said fourth optical beam along a first optical path for generating a third optical beam at a third frequency which is a linear combination of said first frequency and said fourth frequency. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 38)
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31. A method for generating oscillations as a frequency shifted optical output beam, the method comprising the steps of:
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producing from an optical pump means a first optical beam of a first frequency and a fourth optical beam of a fourth frequency;
thereuponresonating said first optical beam and said fourth optical beam in a first resonator cavity means to build up selected optical power at said first frequency and at said fourth frequency within said first resonator cavity means; and
thereuponexciting a nonlinear element means disposed within said first resonator cavity means with said first and fourth optical beams at power levels above a critical level to generate useful optical power in a third optical beam of a third frequency which is a linear combination of said first frequency and said fourth frequency.
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Specification