Nonlinear optical imaging by detection with optical parametric amplification(invited paper)

Nonlinear optical imaging is a versatile tool that has been proven to be exceptionally useful in various research fields.However,due to the use of photomultiplier tubes(PMTs),the wide application of nonlinear optical imaging is limited by the incapability of imaging under am-bient light.In this paper,we propose and demonstrate a new optical imaging detection method based on optical parametric amplification(OPA).As a nonlinear optical process,OPA in-trinsically rejects ambient light photons by coherence gating.Periodical poled lithium niobate(PPLN)crystals are used in this study as the media for OPA.Compared to bulk nonlinear optical crystals,PPLN crystals support the generation of OPA signal with lower pump power.Therefore,this characteristic of PPLN crystals is particularly beneficial when using high-repetition-rate lasers,which facilitate high-speed optical signal detection,such as in spec-troscopy and imaging.A PPLN-based OPA system was built to amplify the emitted imaging signal from second harmonic generation(SHG)and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering(CARS)microscopy imaging,and the amplified optical signal was strong enough to be detected by a biased photodiode under ordinary room light conditions.With OPA detection,ambient-light-on SHG and CARS imaging becomes possible,and achieves a similar result as PMT detection under strictly dark environments.These results demonstrate that OPA can be used as a substitute for PMTs in nonlinear optical imaging to adapt it to various applications with complex.light ing conditions.

Table-top optical parametric chirped pulse amplifiers: past and present

The generation of power-and wavelength-scalable few optical cycle pulses remains one of the major challenges in modern laser physics.Over the past decade,the development of table-top optical parametric chirped pulse amplificationbased systems was progressing at amazing speed,demonstrating excellent performance characteristics in terms of pulse duration,energy,peak power and repetition rate,which place them at the front line of modern ultrafast laser technology.At present,table-top optical parametric chirped pulse amplifiers comprise a unique class of ultrafast light sources,which currently amplify octave-spanning spectra and produce carrier-envelope phase-stable,few optical cycle pulses with multi-gigawatt to multi-terawatt peak powers and multi-watt average powers,with carrier wavelengths spanning a considerable range of the optical spectrum.This article gives an overview on the state of the art of table-top optical parametric chirped pulse amplifiers,addressing their relevant scientific and technological aspects,and provides a short outlook of practical applications in the growing field of ultrafast science.

Spectrum Correction in Study of Solvation Dynamics by Fluorescence Non-collinear Optical Parametric Amplification Spectroscopy

Femtosecond time-resolved fluorescence non-collinear optical parametric amplification spec- troscopy can extract the curve of spectral gain from its parametric superfluorescence. This unique spectrum correction method enables fluorescence non-collinear optical parametric amplification spectroscopy acquiring the genuine transient fluorescence spectrum of the studied system. In this work we employ fluorescence non-collinear optical parametric amplification spectroscopy technique to study the solvation dynamics of DCM dye in ethanol solution, and confirm that genuine solvation correlation function and shift of peak frequency can be derived from transient fluorescence spectra after the spectral gain correction. It demonstrates that fluorescence non-collinear optical parametric amplification spectroscopy can benefit the research fields, which focuses on both fluorescence intensity dynamics and fluorescence spectral shape evolution.

Coherent effect of triple-resonant optical parametric amplification inside a cavity with injection of a squeezed vacuum field

In theory, we study the quantum tluctuatlons ot tlae suDllarmonlc renecteu nela Irom a ulplc-rc^ulltUtt IdU^ClIClatC optical parametric amplifier （OPA） inside an optical cavity. We discuss two cases, where the linewidth of the harmonic field is either much narrower or broader than the subharmonic field. Since an electromagnetically-induced-transparency （EIT）-like effect can be simulated in a triple-resonant OPA, the output spectra from a triple-resonant OPA with a squeezed vacuum input may simulate the phenomenon of the response of an EIT medium for squeezed states. This scheme can be implemented with present experimental setups.

Amplification of fluorescence using collinear picosecond optical parametric amplification at degeneracy

We demonstrate the output characteristic of broadband parametric amplification of incoherent light pulses in a 355-nm pumped degenerate picosecond optical parametric amplification with either saturated or unsaturated amplification. The optical parametric amplifier is seeded by the fluorescence generated in a solution of pyridine-1 dye in ethanol. With the saturated amplification, we can obtain high energy incoherent light pulses, whose full width at half maximum bandwidth varies from 16 nm to 53 nm for the different phase matching angles near degeneracy. Moreover, the unsaturated bandwidth of the amplified pulses fits well to the calculated result at degeneracy. Selecting s-polarized fluorescence with a Glan-Taylor prism, the maximum bandwidth of the amplified fluorescence is found to be 59 nm for a purely s-polarized seed. The maximum output energy is 0.67 mJ for the optical parametric amplifier. By using an optical filter and compressor, the generated high energy incoherent light has great potential as the incoherent pump, signal or idler wave of a parametric down-conversion process, so that a wave with a high degree of coherence can be generated from an incoherent pump light.

Lasing dynamics study by femtosecond time-resolved fluorescence non-collinear optical parametric amplification spectroscopy

Femtosecond time-resolved fluorescence non-collinear optical parametric amplification spectroscopy （FNOPAS） is a versatile technique with advantages of high sensitivity, broad detection bandwidth, and intrinsic spectrum correction func- tion. These advantages should benefit the study of coherent emission, such as measurement oflasing dynamics. In this letter, the FNOPAS was used to trace the lasing process in Rhodamine 6G （R6G） solution and organic semiconductor nano-wires. High-quality transient emission spectra and lasing dynamic traces were acquired, which demonstrates the applicability of FNOPAS in the study of lasing dynamics. Our work extends the application scope of the FNOPAS technique.

A Theoretical Evaluation of Optical Parametric Amplification in BBO Crystal

The noncollinear optical parametric amplification in BBO crystal is theoretically investigated. The phase matching angle, gain bandwidth, optimal noncollinear angle and conversion efficiency for both type-I and type-II BBO are simulated. The numerical simulation results are important to the practical optical parametric amplification experiments with BBO crystal.

Optical parametric chirped pulse amplification based on photonic crystal fibre

A compact two-stage optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier based on photonic crystal fibre is demonstrated. A 1064-nm soliton pulse is obtained in a home-made photonic crystal fibre （PCF） with femtosecond pulse pumping and then amplified to 2 mJ in an Nd：YAG regenerative amplifier. After the amplified pulses pass through the LBO crystal, the 532-nm double-frequency light with an energy of 0.8 mJ and a duration of over 100 ps at 10-Hz repetition rate is generated as a pump source in the following two-stage optical parametric amplification （OPA）. The 850-nm chirped signal light gain from the stretcher is 1.5 × 10^4 in the first-stage OPA while it is 120 in the second-stage OPA. The total signal gain of optical parametric chirped pulse amplification （OPCPA） can reach 1.8 × 10^6.

The propagation characteristic of the EPR entanglement for a composite non-degenerate parametric optical amplification system

This paper applies the minimum variance V1 criterion to monitor the evolution of signal and idler modes of a composite non-degenerate optical parametric amplification （NOPA） system. The analytics and numerical calculation show the influence of the transition time, the vacuum fluctuations, and the thermal noise level on the EPR entanglement of the composite NOPA system. It finds that the entanglement and the squeezing degrade as the minimum variance V1 increases.

The solution of the time-dependent Fokker-Planck equation of non-degenerate optical parametric amplification and its application to the optimum realization of EPR paradox

In this paper, the solution of the time-dependent Fokker-Planck equation of non-degenerate optical parametric amplification is used to deduce the condition demonstrating the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen （EPR） paradox. The analytics and numerical calculation show the influence of pump depletion on the error in the measurement of continuous variables. The optimum realization of EPR paradox can be achieved by adjusting the parameter of squeezing. This result is of practical importance when the realistic experimental conditions are taken into consideration .

Phase matched scanning optical parametric chirped pulse amplification based on pump beam deflection

Combined with the optical beam deflection,a novel approach of phase matched broadband scanning optical parametric chirped pulse amplification(OPCPA)was proposed.For this scheme,there was no superfluous operations to the chirped signal pulse which propagated in a changeless direction straightforward,but the pump beam were deflected in space with time by passing through a KTN crystal,which was applied with varied driving voltage.The theories of phase matching of each chirped signal frequency based on pump beam deflection was analyzed detailedly.And the type-I amplification of chirped signal with 800 nm central wavelength and 20 nm bandwidth pumped by 532 nm in BBO crystal was simulated as a case in point.The simulation results showed that the spectral distribution of chirped signal pulse was almost the same as the initial form,i.e.,there was nearly no narrowing on the amplified spectrum by using of the scanning OPCPA based on pump beam deflection.In addition,the simulations demonstrated that it was worth minimizing the voltage deviation applied to KTN crystal as much as possible for the sake of better waveform,larger bandwidth and higher conversion efficiency of amplified signal pulse in the proposed scanning OPCPA.

Trends in ultrashort and ultrahigh power laser pulses based on optical parametric chirped pulse amplification

Since the proof-of-principle demonstration of optical parametric amplification to efficiently amplify chirped laser pulses in 1992, optical parametric chirped pulse amplification（OPCPA） became the most promising method for the amplification of broadband optical pulses. In the meantime, we are witnessing an exciting progress in the development of powerful and ultrashort pulse laser systems that employ chirped pulse parametric amplifiers. The output power and pulse duration of these systems have ranged from a few gigawatts to hundreds of terawatts with a potential of tens of petawatts power level. Meanwhile, the output pulse duration based on optical parametric amplification has entered the range of fewoptical-cycle field. In this paper, we overview the basic principles, trends in development, and current state of the ultrashort and laser systems based on OPCPA, respectively.

High temporal contrast 1053 nm laser source based on optical parametric amplification and second-harmonic generation

Temporal contrast directly affects the interaction between ultraintense and ultrashort pulse lasers with matter.Seed laser sources with broad bandwidth and high temporal contrast are significant for overall temporal contrast enhancement.The technique of cascaded nonlinear processes with optical parametric amplification and second-harmonic generation is demonstrated for high temporal contrast seed source generation.Within 40 ps before the main pulse,the temporal contrast reaches over 10^(11).The pulse energy and duration of the high-contrast pulse are 112μJ and 70 fs,respectively.Considering its high beam quality and stability,this laser source can serve as a high-quality seed for Nd:glass-based ultraintense and ultrashort pulse laser facilities.

Millijoule ultrafast optical parametric amplification as replacement for high-gain regenerative amplifiers

We report on the development of an ultrafast optical parametric amplifier front-end for the Petawatt High Energy Laser for heavy Ion eXperiments(PHELIX)and the Petawatt ENergy-Efficient Laser for Optical Plasma Experiments(PEnELOPE)facilities.This front-end delivers broadband and stable amplification up to 1 mJ per pulse while maintaining a high beam quality.Its implementation at PHELIX allowed one to bypass the front-end amplifier,which is known to be a source of pre-pulses.With the bypass,an amplified spontaneous emission contrast of 4.9×10^(−13)and a pre-pulse contrast of 6.2×10^(−11)could be realized.Due to its high stability,high beam quality and its versatile pump amplifier,the system offers an alternative for high-gain regenerative amplifiers in the front-end of various laser systems.

Widely tunable dual-pump parametric amplifiers with photonic crystal fibres

This paper theoretically studies the double-pumped fibre-optical parametric amplifiers （FOPAs） in photonic crystal fibres. Two distinct working regimes of FOPAs are researched, which depend on the dispersion at the central wavelength of the two pumps. Extremely broad tuning range can be obtained when the central pump wavelength is in the normal dispersion regime and is insensitive to the wavelength separation between the two pumps, while the tuning range is narrow in the anomalous dispersion regime and can be significantly enhanced by increasing the wavelength separation. Impacts of higher-order dispersions and temporal walk-off on the gain spectra are also discussed.

Demonstration of a petawatt-scale optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier based on yttrium calcium oxyborate

As optical parametric chirped pulse amplification has been widely adopted for the generation of extreme intensity laser sources,nonlinear crystals of large aperture are demanded for high-energy amplifiers.Yttrium calcium oxyborate(YCa_(4)O(BO_(3))_(3),YCOB)is capable of being grown with apertures exceeding 100 mm,which makes it possible for application in systems of petawatt scale.In this paper,we experimentally demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge,an ultra-broadband non-collinear optical parametric amplifier with YCOB for petawatt-scale compressed pulse generation at 800 nm.Based on the SG-II 5 PW facility,amplified signal energy of approximately 40 J was achieved and pump-to-signal conversion efficiency was up to 42.3%.A gain bandwidth of 87 nm was realized and supported a compressed pulse duration of 22.3 fs.The near-field and wavefront aberration represented excellent characteristics,which were comparable with those achieved in lithium triborate-based amplifiers.These results verified the great potential for YCOB utilization in the future.

Analysis of ultra-broadband high-energy optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier based on YCOB crystal

A new type of optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier is designed and analyzed for the amplification of pulse centered at 808 nm. A novel crystal, yttrium calcium oxyborate YCa40（BO3）3 （YCOB）, is utilized in the power amplification stage of optical parametric amplification （OPA）. Noncollinear phase matching parameters in the xoz principle plane of YCOB, compared with those in BBO and DKDP, are analyzed by numerical simulation. The results show that YCOB rather than DKDP can be used in the power amplification stage of OPA to realize the amplification of chirped pulse to several joules with a gain bandwidth exceeding 100 nm. This can be used to gain a high intensity pulse of -10 fs after the compressor.

High-spatial-resolution ultrafast framing imaging at 15 trillion frames per second by optical parametric amplification

We report a framing imaging based on noncollinear optical parametric amplification(NCOPA),named FINCOPA,which applies NCOPA for the first time to single-shot ultrafast optical imaging.In an experiment targeting a laser-induced air plasma grating,FINCOPA achieved 50 fs-resolved optical imaging with a spatial resolution of^83 lp∕mm and an effective frame rate of 10 trillion frames per second(Tfps).It has also successfully visualized an ultrafast rotating optical field with an effective frame rate of 15 Tfps.FINCOPA has simultaneously a femtosecond-level temporal resolution and frame interval and a micrometer-level spatial resolution.Combining outstanding spatial and temporal resolutions with an ultrahigh frame rate,FINCOPA will contribute to high-spatiotemporal resolution observations of ultrafast transient events,such as atomic or molecular dynamics in photonic materials,plasma physics,and laser inertial-confinement fusion.

MTW-OPAL:a technology development platform for ultra-intense optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification systems

Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification implemented using multikilojoule Nd:glass pump lasers is a promising approach for producing ultra-intense pulses(>10^(23)W/cm^(2)).We report on the MTW-OPAL Laser System,an optical parametric amplifier line(OPAL)pumped by the Nd:doped portion of the multi-terawatt(MTW)laser.This midscale prototype was designed to produce 0.5-PW pulses with technologies scalable to tens of petawatts.Technology choices made for MTW-OPAL were guided by the longer-term goal of two full-scale OPALs pumped by the OMEGA EP to produce 2×25-PW beams that would be co-located with kilojoule-nanosecond ultraviolet beams.Several MTWOPAL campaigns that have been completed since“first light”in March 2020 show that the laser design is fundamentally sound,and optimization continues as we prepare for“first-focus”campaigns later this year.

High spatial-resolution biological tissue imaging in the second near-infrared region via optical parametric amplification pumped by an ultrafast vortex pulse [Invited]

Applying an ultrafast vortex laser as the pump,optical parametric amplification can be used for spiral phase-contrast imaging with high gain,wide spatial bandwidth,and high imaging contrast.Our experiments show that this design has realized the 1064 nm spiral phase-contrast idler imaging of biological tissues(frog egg cells and onion epidermis)with a spatial resolution at several microns level and a superior imaging contrast to both the traditional bright-or dark-field imaging under a weak illumination of 7 nW/cm^(2).This work provides a powerful way for biological tissue imaging in the second near-infrared region.