Mirrorless optical parametric oscillator inside an all-optical waveguide

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a mirrorless optical parametric oscillator within an all-optical waveguide, utilizing nonlinear interactions and four-wave mixing in a multilevel atomic system to generate correlated Stokes and anti-Stokes fields with high efficiency.

Contribution

First experimental demonstration of MOPO in an all-optical waveguide using four-wave mixing in a multilevel atomic medium.

Findings

Generated mW-level laser power with over 30% pump conversion efficiency.

Created all-optical waveguides via cross-phase modulation, enabling different spatial modes.

Produced correlated Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian modes in the generated fields.

Abstract

Mirrorless optical parametric oscillator (MOPO) is a consequence of intrinsic feedback provided by the nonlinearity in a medium due to the interaction of a pair of strong counter-propagating fields. As the name suggests, the device doesn't require a cavity for lasing other than the nonlinear medium. Here, we report the first demonstration of MOPO under the effect of an all-optical waveguide. The efficient four-wave mixing process due to counter-propagating pump and control fields interacting with a multilevel atomic system facilitates the generation of mirrorless Stokes and anti-Stokes fields counter-propagating to each other. The maximum generated laser power could rise up to mW with pump conversion efficiency more than 30%. Furthermore, the cross-phase modulation due to the strong Gaussian beams create all-optical waveguides for the generated fields and hence induces different spatial modes in the Stokes as well as the anti-Stokes fields. With suitable experimental parameters, we could generate correlated Gaussian mode or Laguerre-Gaussian mode for both the generated fields.