Micro-Structured Materials for Generation of Coherent Light and Optical Signal Processing

摘要

Our research interests focus on improving nonlinear optical materials, developing microstructuring techniques to access new wavelength regions and new applications, and fabricating devices for high-power visible generation, ultra-fast optical interactions, mid-IR generation, and optical signal processing. This program has continued the development of microstructured nonlinear optical materials and quasi-phase-matched devices based on those materials. The material systems investigated, periodically-poled ferroelectrics, especially lithium niobate (PPLN) and lithium tantalate (PPLT), and orientation-patterned GaAs (OP-GaAs), enable nonlinear interactions impossible in conventional nonlinear media. This work included characterization of vapor-transport- equilibrated near-stoichiometric ferroelectrics, enhancements in periodic-poling technology, and development of improved proton- exchanged waveguide techniques. Following the materials characterization and improved processing techniques, we have been able to fabricate new devices including OP-GaAs devices for broadband optical parametric generation (OPG) at mid-infrared wavelengths, wide bandwidth parametric amplifiers in aperiodic QPM structures, high power visible light generation including the sodium yellow line, and reverse-proton-exchanged PPLN waveguide devices for quasi-group- velocity- matching, optical signal processing, and generation of nearly- transform- limited OPG.