Truly portable supercontinuum sources with high spectral bandwidths are poised to advance applications such as medical imaging, chemical sensing, or light detection and ranging. Yet, limited efficiencies of conventional Supercontinuum Generation (SCG) schemes typically require relatively high pulse energies from bulky ultrafast lasers. We discuss a commercially emerging approach to SCG based on Patterned Sign-alternating Dispersion (PSD) waveguide chips. It is based on alternately subjecting femtosecond seed laser pulses to normal and anomalous dispersion regimes in a highly controlled fashion. PSD waveguides decrease input power requirements down to factors on the order of 1/1000 as compared to other approaches and imply a disruptive reduction in power consumption, size, and costs of required seed laser light sources. We illustrate the real-world performance of PSD waveguide chips operating in tandem with ultra-compact femtosecond fiber lasers, and give an illustrative example of portable near-infrared absorption spectroscopy.
We discuss principles, design challenges, performance highlights as well as current limitations of state-of-the-art widely tunable continuous-wave optical parametric oscillators sought to be practical for implementation as turn-key systems. Employing a flexible two-stage design concept that can be adapted to several single-frequency laser pump sources, we demonstrate how a wavelength range from 450 nm up to 3500 nm can be covered almost seamlessly. Emerging keyapplications in the realm of quantum technology, like fundamental studies of novel color centers in diamond, are presented in an illustrative manner.
Widely tunable continuous wave optical parametric oscillators (cw OPOs) are gaining popularity as novel sources of tunable laser light, not least due to the unprecedented wavelength coverage in the visible and the near infrared spectral range. While the potential and the advantages of tunable cw OPOs are becoming increasingly recognized, in particular within the quantum research community, the experimental requirements are often challenging. In this context, we discuss the characteristics of state-of-the-art tunable cw OPO designs and describe several tuning schemes tailored to meet various experimental needs. In an illustrative fashion, we compare several recently published experimental datasets from photoluminescence excitation experiments, which have been carried out on ensembles as well as on individual quantum emitters under different experimental conditions.
The huge potential of tunable optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) derives from their exceptional wavelength versatility, as they are in principle not limited by the wavelength coverage dictated by the energy levels and transitions in a laser gain medium. However, while the OPO concept has been experimentally demonstrated already more than half a century ago, the progress in development of practicable and reliable turn-key devices that operate in continuous-wave (cw) mode has been stalled by several technical obstacles. This applies particularly for systems that sought to deliver tunable output across the visible spectral range (VIS), where only relatively recent advances have spurred the development of operationally stable benchtop devices. We discuss the principles and design challenges of such technically practicable cw OPOs, focusing on singly resonant OPO cavity designs that are linked with frequency conversion of the primary OPO output into different ranges of the visible spectrum. In this context, suitable choices and combinations of (quasi-phase-matched) nonlinear crystals are examined. We further discuss the overall performance highlights as well as current limitations of state-of-the art tunable cw OPO designs, and present first measurement results from conceptual approaches to shift and/or extend the wavelength coverage in future design layouts that eventually target commercialization. Last no least, after presenting real-world applications in an illustrative manner, we critically discuss how OPO technology, on the long run, can be expected to perform in the competition with alternatives based on common tunable laser designs.
There is recently an increasing interest in holographic techniques and holographic optical elements (HOEs) related to virtual reality and augmented reality applications which demand new laser technologies capable of delivering new wavelengths, higher output powers and in some cases improved control of these parameters. The choice of light sources for optical recording of holograms or production of HOEs for image displays is typically made between fixed RGB wavelengths from individual lasers (457 nm, 473 nm, 491 nm, 515 nm, 532 nm, 561 nm, 640 nm, 660 nm) or tunable laser systems covering broad wavelength ranges with a single source (450 nm – 650 nm, 510 nm – 750 nm) or a combination. Lasers for holographic applications need to have long coherence length (>10 m), excellent wavelength stability and accuracy as well as very good power stability. As new applications for holographic techniques and HOEs often require high volume manufacturing in industrial environments there is additionally a growing demand for laser sources with excellent long-term stability, reliability and long operational lifetimes. We discuss what performance specifications should be considered when looking at using high average power, single frequency (SF) or single longitudinal mode (SLM) lasers to produce holograms and HOEs, as well as describe some of the laser technologies that are capable of delivering these performance specifications.
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