Nowadays, there is a real need in all solid-state sources emitting a high energy and tunable coherent light covering Band II of transparency of the atmosphere (2-5 µm). The best alternative is frequency down-conversion in a nonlinear crystal of a monochromatic wavelength emitted by a commercial laser. The requested performances of the crystal are a high damage threshold and phase-matching conditions associated with large conversion efficiencies. It is the case of the oxyde crystals KTiOPO4 (KTP) and the periodically poled LiNbO3 (PPLN) that are mainly used. The goal of this talk is to give an overview of their full characterization by using the sphere method we developed many years ago. We will also report recent data of new promising oxyde crystals as La3Ga5.5Ta0.5O14 (LGT), NaI3O8 and periodically poled KTiOPO4 (PPKTP). All our data can be used per se. They also lead to the main parameters enabling calculations of the best use of oxyde crystals in optical parametric generators (OPG).
We identified eight nonlinear crystals enabling THz emission from quadratic phase-matched Difference-Frequency-Generation: YCOB, BNA, LBO, CSP, AGS, CdSe, ZnO and GaP. For all these crystals, we performed Time-Domain Spectroscopy in the same conditions to determine their absorption spectra in polarized light as well as their principal refractive indices as a function of wavelength in the 0.5-2.0 THz range. By combining previous data with the Sellmeier equations valid in their visible and infrared transparency ranges, we calculated the coherence length of Difference-Frequency-Generation associated to all possible configurations of polarization and found interesting and complementary phase-matching conditions in the eight studied crystals.
We performed direct measurements of phase-matching conditions of Second-Harmonic Generation (SHG) and Difference-Frequency Generation using the sphere method to determine reliable Sellmeier’s equations valid in the 1-12 microns transparency range of the new BGSe monoclinic nonlinear crystal. We also recorded SHG conversion efficiencies under and out-of phase-matching conditions to determine without the magnitudes and relative signs of the associated non zero quadratic nonlinear coefficients of BGSe. By combining all these data, we were able to calculate pump wavelengths enabling the generation of a widely tunable light in the infrared range from phase-matched Optical Parametric Generation.
Characterizations of linear spectroscopic properties in polarized light have been performed for the highly-concentrated Yb-doped borate family Li6Ln(BO3)3 (with Ln: Gd, Y, and labeled Yb:LLnB), in order to start to evaluate their potentiality for high-power laser applications. Modifications in spectral distributions and intensities are reported with respect to crystal orientation and polarization. Chemical composition and crystal shaping are discussed, pointing strong possible dependence with experimental conditions, which has to be considered so as to take sufficient precautions regarding the prediction of potential laser properties in such anisotropic laser crystals.
Advances in the periodic poling process have led to longer and larger PPLN crystals. Today it is also possible to prepare
PPLN samples with a thickness of about 5 mm which allows the use of pump laser beams with a larger aperture, and so
with a higher energy. Moreover thicker samples give the possibility to consider quasi-phase-matching (QPM) at any
angle with respect to the grating periodicity. We called this scheme angular quasi-phase-matching (AQPM). In order to
illustrate the potentiality of AQPM, we compared its tunability and spectral acceptance with that of BPM in the case of
second harmonic generation (SHG) and difference frequency generation (DFG) in the periodically poled negative
uniaxial 5%MgO:PPLN crystal, with a grating periodicity Λ = 32.2 μm We found that AQPM exhibits complementary
spectral range and acceptances compared with BPM. We experimentally performed the first validation of the theory of
AQPM by cutting 5%MgO:PPLN as a polished sphere with a diameter of 3.9 mm in order to propagate beams in any
direction of the crystal by keeping normal incidence. It allowed us to measure any SHG and DFG AQPM direction, with
the associated efficiencies, the spectral and angular acceptances. They are reported with calculations.
We describe the current status of the ELP-OA project in which we try to demonstrate in practice that it is possible to measure the tilt of a wave front using only a polychromatic laser guide star and no natural guide star. The first phase of ELP-OA, consisting of feasibility experiments, has recently been completed successfully. This paper provides an overview over the results of this first phase and over the continuation of the ELP-OA project.
Adaptive optics at astronomical telescopes aims at correcting in real time the phase corrugations of incoming wavefronts caused by the turbulent atmosphere, as early proposed by Babcock. Measuring the phase errors requires a bright source located within the isoplanatic patch of the program source. The probability that such a reference source exists is a function of the wavelength, of the required image quality (Strehl ratio), of the turbulence optical properties, and of the direction of the observation. It turns out that the sky coverage is disastrously low in particular in the visible wavelength range where, unfortunately, the gain in spatial resolution brought by adaptive optics is the largest. Foy and Labeyrie have proposed to overcome this difficulty by creating an artificial point source in the sky in the direction of the observation relying on the backscattered light due to a laser beam. This laser guide star (hereinafter referred to as LGS) can be bright enough to allow us to accurately measure the wavefront phase errors, except for two modes which are the piston (not relevant in this case) and the tilt. Pilkington has emphasized that the round trip time of the laser beam to the mesosphere, where the LGS is most often formed, is significantly shorter than the typical tilt coherence time; then the inverse-return-of-light principle causes deflections of the outgoing and the ingoing beams to cancel. The apparent direction of the LGS is independent of the tilt. Therefore the tilt cannot be measured only from the LGS. Until now, the way to overcome this difficulty has been to use a natural guide star to sense the tilt. Although the tilt is sensed through the entire telescope pupil, one cannot use a faint source because $APEX 90% of the variance of the phase error is in the tilt. Therefore, correcting the tilt requires a higher accuracy of the measurements than for higher orders of the wavefront. Hence current adaptive optics devices coupled with a LGS face low sky coverage. Several methods have been proposed to get a partial sky coverage for the tilt. The only one providing us with a full sky coverage is the polychromatic LGS (hereafter referred to as PLGS). We present here a progress report of the R&D program Etoile Laser Polychromatique et Optique Adaptative (ELP-OA) carried out in France to develop the PLGS concept. After a short recall of the principles of the PLGS, we will review the goal of ELP-OA and the steps to get over to bring it into play. We finally shortly described the effort in Europe to develop the LGS.
KEYWORDS: Laser guide stars, Telescopes, Sodium, Stars, Global system for mobile communications, Oscillators, Wavefronts, Adaptive optics, Calibration, Photometry
We present results from measurements of the return flux from a polychromatic sodium laser guide star produced in Pierrelatte, France during the PASS-2 experiment. In the experiment, photometry of light at 330, 569, 589, and 589.6 nm emitted by mesospheric sodium under two-color laser excitation (569 and 589 nm) was performed. The variation of oscillator and laser configurations as well as simultaneous measurements of the atmospheric coherence length and the mesospheric sodium density permit a comparison of the results with atomic physics models. Using the results, we can determine the setup that produces the maximum return flux from the polychromatic laser guide star. The knowledge gained will be used to aid the ELP- OA project, which has as its goal the design, testing, and implementation of an adaptive optics system that uses a polychromatic laser guide star for wave front tilt measurements.
Adaptive optics at astronomical telescopes aims at correcting in real time the phase corrugations of incoming wavefronts caused by the turbulent atmosphere, as early proposed by Babcock. Measuring the phase errors requires a bright source, which is located within the isoplanatic patch of the program source. The probability that such a reference source exists is a function of the wavelength of the observation, of the required image quality (Strehl ratio), of the turbulence optical properties, and of the direction of the observation. Several papers have addressed the problem of the sky coverage as a function of these parameters (see e.g.: Le Louarn et al). It turns out that the sky coverage is disastrously low in particular in the short (visible) wavelength range where, unfortunately, the gain in spatial resolution brought by adaptive optics is the largest. Foy and Labeyrie have proposed to overcome this difficulty by creating an artificial point source in the sky in the direction of the observation relying on the backscattered light due to a laser beam. This laser guide star (hereafter referred to as LGS) can be bright enough to allow us to accurately measure the wavefront phase errors, except for two modes which are the piston (which is not relevant in this case) and the tilt. Pilkington has emphasized that the round trip time of the laser beam to the mesosphere, where the LGS is most often formed, is significantly shorter than the typical tilt coherence time; then the inverse-return- of-light principle causes deflections of the outgoing and the ingoing beams to cancel. The apparent direction of the LGS is independent of the tilt. Therefore the tilt cannot be measured only from the LGS. Until now, the way to overcome this difficulty has been to use a natural guide star to sense the tilt. Although the tilt is sensed through the entire telescope pupil, one cannot use a faint source because approximately equals 90% of the variance of the phase error is in the tilt. Therefore, correcting the tilt requires a higher accuracy of the measurements than for higher orders of the wavefront. Hence current adaptive optics devices coupled with a LGS face low sky coverage. Several methods have been proposed to get a partial or total sky coverage for the tilt, such as the dual adaptive optics concept, the elongation perspective method, or the polychromatic LGS (hereafter referred to as PLGS). We present here a progress report of the R&D program Etoile Laser Polychromatique et Optique Adaptative (ELP-OA) carried out in France to develop the PLGS concept. After a short recall of the principles of the PLGS, we will review the goal of ELP-OA and the steps to get over to bring it into play.
PASS-2 is an experiment designed to perform photometry of the polychromatic laser guide star. The tilt of an atmospherically distorted wave front coming from an astronomical object cannot be determined with a monochromatic laser guide star. If it is possible to produce a laser guide star that emits light at different wavelengths, however, the tilt can be determined from the measurable differences between the tilts at the different wavelengths. This is the concept of the polychromatic laser guide star. The PASS-2 experiment is a step towards an implementation of an adaptive optics system that uses a polychromatic laser guide star for the wave front tilt measurement. The goal of the experiment is to validate the feasibility of a polychromatic laser guide star adaptive optics system and to determine the laser parameters that produce the optimal return flux from the polychromatic laser guide star. To this end, the return flux from the polychromatic laser guide star at 330 and 589.6 nm will be measured as a function of laser parameters, atmospheric conditions, and the density of the mesospheric sodium layer.
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