Multifunctional Optical Crystals for Raman Lasers

A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Inorganic Crystalline Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 December 2020) | Viewed by 16865

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Department of Laser Materials and Photonics, Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilov str. 38, Moscow 119991, Russia
Interests: active and nonlinear optical materials; devices for quantum electronics and photonics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Stimulated Raman scattering in crystalline materials is one of the most simple and efficient methods for the nonlinear frequency conversion of laser radiation. An attractive way for the improvement of Raman laser characteristics is to use the same crystal not only for lasing but also for the nonlinear conversion of the laser radiation characteristics. We can find several combinations of the lasing and conversion effects in such multifunctional optical crystals. Firstly, lasing can be based on laser transitions in an activated crystal, but the nonlinear frequency conversion can be coursed by Raman nonlinearity of the same crystal (the so-called self-Raman laser). Secondly, the Raman properties of a crystal can give us Raman lasing, but some additional second- or third-order nonlinear effects in the same crystal can convert the characteristics of the Raman laser radiation (e.g., three-wave mixing at stimulated polariton scattering, four-wave mixing at parametric Raman interaction, and nonlinear refractive index effects, such as self-focusing and self-phase and cross-phase modulations). Thirdly, in a crystalline Raman laser we can use two different Raman modes of an active crystal. If the first mode is intense and the second mode is broadened, the multifunctional activity of the crystal can consist of Raman lasing on the first intense Raman mode and nonlinear compression of the Raman radiation pulse down to an inverse width of the second broadened Raman mode.

This Special Issue on “Multifunctional Optical Crystals for Raman Lasers” is intended to provide a unique international forum that covers a broad description of Raman lasers utilizing multifunctional active crystals with various temporal, spectral, and energy properties, as well as multifunctional optical crystal characterizations. Scientists and engineers working with Raman crystals and lasers are invited to contribute to this Special Issue.

Dr. Sergei N. Smetanin
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • multifunctional optical crystal
  • Raman mode
  • stimulated Raman scattering
  • Raman laser
  • nonlinear self-conversion

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 2886 KiB  
Article
Highly Efficient Nanosecond 1.7 μm Fiber Gas Raman Laser by H2-Filled Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fibers
by Hao Li, Wenxi Pei, Wei Huang, Meng Wang and Zefeng Wang
Crystals 2021, 11(1), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst11010032 - 30 Dec 2020
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2606
Abstract
We report here a high-power, highly efficient, wavelength-tunable nanosecond pulsed 1.7 μm fiber laser based on hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (HC-PCFs) by rotational stimulated Raman scattering. When a 9-meter-long HC-PCF filled with 30 bar hydrogen is pumped by a homemade tunable 1.5 [...] Read more.
We report here a high-power, highly efficient, wavelength-tunable nanosecond pulsed 1.7 μm fiber laser based on hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (HC-PCFs) by rotational stimulated Raman scattering. When a 9-meter-long HC-PCF filled with 30 bar hydrogen is pumped by a homemade tunable 1.5 μm pulsed fiber amplifier, the maximum average Stokes power of 3.3 W at 1705 nm is obtained with a slope efficiency of 84%, and the slope efficiency achieves the highest recorded value for 1.7 μm pulsed fiber lasers. When the pump pulse repetition frequency is 1.3 MHz with a pulse width of approximately 15 ns, the average output power is higher than 3 W over the whole wavelength tunable range from 1693 nm to 1705 nm, and the slope efficiency is higher than 80%. A steady-state theoretical model is used to achieve the maximum Stokes power in hydrogen-filled HC-PCFs, and the simulation results accord well with the experiments. This work presents a new opportunity for highly efficient tunable pulsed fiber lasers at the 1.7 μm band. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional Optical Crystals for Raman Lasers)
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12 pages, 3490 KiB  
Article
Laser Pulse Shortening via Zero-Dispersion Phase Matching of Parametric Raman Interactions in Crystals
by Sergei N. Smetanin, Michal Jelínek, Dmitry P. Tereshchenko, Mikhail N. Ershkov and Václav Kubeček
Crystals 2021, 11(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst11010019 - 29 Dec 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2114
Abstract
We propose and study the conditions of zero-dispersion phase matching for parametric Raman interactions in birefringent crystals differing by anisotropy of zero-dispersion wavelength and allowing for the spectral tuning of the zero-dispersion phase-matching condition. We choose a highly birefringent crystal of calcite having [...] Read more.
We propose and study the conditions of zero-dispersion phase matching for parametric Raman interactions in birefringent crystals differing by anisotropy of zero-dispersion wavelength and allowing for the spectral tuning of the zero-dispersion phase-matching condition. We choose a highly birefringent crystal of calcite having a wide zero-dispersion anisotropy range for the demonstration of new effects of laser pulse shortening in parametric Raman lasers with spectrally tunable zero-dispersion phase matching. We demonstrate the anti-Stokes (1168 nm) and multi-Stokes (1629 nm) picosecond pulse shortening and self-separation of single 80-ps ultra-short pulse from the zero-dispersion phase-matched parametric Raman lasers that are based on the calcite crystal without using any electro-optical device. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional Optical Crystals for Raman Lasers)
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13 pages, 2065 KiB  
Article
Tunable Stokes Laser Based on KTiOPO4 Crystal
by Zecheng Wang, Xingyu Zhang, Zhenhua Cong, Zhaojun Liu, Xiaohan Chen, Zengguang Qin, Na Ming and Quanxin Guo
Crystals 2020, 10(11), 974; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst10110974 - 27 Oct 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2197
Abstract
The characteristics of a tunable Stokes laser based on the cascaded stimulated polariton scattering and stimulated Raman scattering in KTiOPO4 crystal were studied experimentally and theoretically. When the pumping wavelength was 1064 nm, the Stokes laser output wavelength was able to be [...] Read more.
The characteristics of a tunable Stokes laser based on the cascaded stimulated polariton scattering and stimulated Raman scattering in KTiOPO4 crystal were studied experimentally and theoretically. When the pumping wavelength was 1064 nm, the Stokes laser output wavelength was able to be tuned discontinuously from 1112.08 nm to 1113.64 nm, from 1114.94 nm to 1115.77 nm, and from 1117.37 nm to 1119.92 nm, and the maximum output power appeared at 1118.86 nm. With a pulse repetition frequency of 7 kHz and a pump power of 6.0 W, the maximum output power of the Stokes laser reached 734 mW, and the corresponding diode to laser conversion efficiency was 12.2%. The rate equations describing the temporal evolutions of the fundamental and Stokes waves by noncollinear stimulated polariton scattering and the Stokes wave by collinear stimulated Raman scattering were derived. They were used to simulate the tunable Stokes laser. The calculated results were in agreement with the experimental results on the whole. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional Optical Crystals for Raman Lasers)
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10 pages, 3389 KiB  
Article
Stimulated Raman Scattering in Yttrium, Gadolinium, and Calcium Orthovanadate Crystals with Single and Combined Frequency Shifts under Synchronous Picosecond Pumping for Sub-Picosecond or Multi-Wavelength Generation around 1.2 µm
by Milan Frank, Sergei N. Smetanin, Michal Jelínek, David Vyhlídal, Lyudmila I. Ivleva, Elizaveta E. Dunaeva, Irina S. Voronina, Dmitry P. Tereshchenko, Vladislav E. Shukshin, Petr G. Zverev and Václav Kubeček
Crystals 2020, 10(10), 871; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst10100871 - 26 Sep 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2655
Abstract
Comparative investigation of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) characteristics in the YVO4, GdVO4, and Ca3(VO4)2 orthovanadate crystals at both low and high frequency anionic group vibrations is presented. It was found that GdVO4 is [...] Read more.
Comparative investigation of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) characteristics in the YVO4, GdVO4, and Ca3(VO4)2 orthovanadate crystals at both low and high frequency anionic group vibrations is presented. It was found that GdVO4 is the most perspective for SRS generation on both the ν1 stretching and ν2 bending modes of internal anionic group vibrations with the strongest SRS pulse shortening under synchronous picosecond pumping. It is as a result of GdVO4‘s widest linewidth (17cm−1) of the homogeneously broadened scheelite-type component of the bending ν2 Raman line that led to the strongest SRS pulse shortening down to the dephasing time of the widest (scheelite-type) Raman mode at the secondary intracavity short-shifted SRS conversion. It allowed us to achieve SRS pulses with sub-picosecond duration under tens-of-picoseconds pumping due to the strongest 42-fold pulse shortening. Using the Ca3(VO4)2 crystal with essentially wider Raman lines (~50cm−1) did not allow us to generate SRS pulses shorter than 1 ps. It can be explained by inhomogeneous broadening of the Raman lines in Ca3(VO4)2 because of its structural disordering. Using the measured SRS pulse duration, the homogeneous broadening of the inhomogeneously broadened bending Raman line of Ca3(VO4)2 was estimated to be ~9cm−1. Among the orthovanadate crystals, the YVO4 crystal with the highest Raman gain and with homogeneously broadened Raman lines allowed us to realize the most efficient SRS lasing and SRS pulse shortening truly down to inverse half-width of the bending Raman line. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional Optical Crystals for Raman Lasers)
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7 pages, 1757 KiB  
Article
Ablation of BaWO4 Crystal by Ultrashort Laser Pulses
by Igor Kinyaevskiy, Pavel Danilov, Nikita Smirnov, Sergey Kudryashov, Andrey Koribut, Elizaveta Dunaeva, Irina Voronina, Yury Andreev and Andrey Ionin
Crystals 2020, 10(9), 754; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst10090754 - 27 Aug 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2181
Abstract
Ablation of BaWO4 Raman crystals with different impurity concentrations by ultrashort laser pulses was experimentally studied. Laser pulses with duration varying from 0.3 ps to 1.6 ps at wavelengths of 515 nm and 1030 nm were applied. A single-pulse optical damage threshold [...] Read more.
Ablation of BaWO4 Raman crystals with different impurity concentrations by ultrashort laser pulses was experimentally studied. Laser pulses with duration varying from 0.3 ps to 1.6 ps at wavelengths of 515 nm and 1030 nm were applied. A single-pulse optical damage threshold of the crystal surface changed from 1.3 J/cm2 to 4.2 J/cm2 depending on the laser pulse parameters and BaWO4 crystal purity. The optical damage threshold under multi-pulse irradiation was an order of magnitude less. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional Optical Crystals for Raman Lasers)
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Review

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17 pages, 1859 KiB  
Review
Multifunctional Optical Crystals for All-Solid-State Raman Lasers
by Hui Zhao, Shibo Dai, Siqi Zhu, Hao Yin, Zhen Li and Zhenqiang Chen
Crystals 2021, 11(2), 114; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst11020114 - 26 Jan 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3889
Abstract
In the past few decades, the multifunctional optical crystals for all-solid-state Raman lasers have been widely studied by many scholars due to their compactness, convenience and excellent performance. In this review, we briefly show two kinds of multifunctional Raman crystals: self-Raman (laser and [...] Read more.
In the past few decades, the multifunctional optical crystals for all-solid-state Raman lasers have been widely studied by many scholars due to their compactness, convenience and excellent performance. In this review, we briefly show two kinds of multifunctional Raman crystals: self-Raman (laser and Raman effects) crystals and self-frequency-doubled Raman (frequency-doubling and Raman effects) crystals. We firstly introduce the properties of the self-Raman laser crystals, including vanadate, tungstate, molybdate and silicate doped with rare earth ions, as well as self-frequency-doubled Raman crystals, including KTiOAsO4 (KTA) and BaTeMo2O9 (BTM). Additionally, the domestic and international progress in research on multifunctional Raman crystals is summarized in the continuous wave, passively Q-switched, actively Q-switched and mode-locked regimes. Finally, we present the bottleneck in multifunctional Raman crystals and the outlook for future development. Through this review, we contribute to a general understanding of multifunctional Raman crystals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional Optical Crystals for Raman Lasers)
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