Optical Frequency Division Via Periodically-Poled-Linbo 3-Based
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Optical Frequency Division via Periodically-Poled-LiNbO 3-Based Nonlinear Optics by Phillip Tsefung Nee Submitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY February 1999 @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1999. All rights reserved. A uthor ................... ...................... ............ Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science January 15, 1999 Certified by....... Dr. N.C. Wong 6' Research Scientist Thesis Supervisor Accepted by ........ .......... , ... .. w. Arthur C. Smith Chairman, on Graduate Students Optical Frequency Division via Periodically-Poled-LiNbO 3-Based Nonlinear Optics by Phillip Tsefung Nee Submitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science on January 15, 1999, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Abstract Nonlinear optical techniques are utilized in recent proposals of optical-to-microwave frequency chains to obtain exact frequency ratios that can be used to phase-lock an optical frequency to a microwave frequency standard. These new schemes hold a major advantage over conventional optical-to-microwave frequency chains in that fre- quency conversion is restricted to the near-IR spectral region where advanced lasers, detectors, and nonlinear materials are available. This thesis investigates the implementation of nonlinear-optics-based optical fre- quency division through the use of periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN). 3-to-1 optical frequency division of 532 nm was experimentally demonstrated in a double- grating PPLN crystal. In addition, successful operation of a continuous-wave, nearly- degenerate, doubly resonant optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped at 798 nm was achieved using a Brewster-cut PPLN crystal. This nearly-degenerate Brewster- cut PPLN OPO serves as a precursor to the implementation of a novel 3-to-1 optical frequency divider based on a dual-cavity Brewster-cut double-grating PPLN OPO. Thesis Supervisor: Dr. N.C. Wong Title: Research Scientist 2 Dedication To Stephanie: for her unwavering faith in me, in my capabilities, and in our mar- riage. Her love, encouragement, and understanding, especially during the past year when my coming home late at night became the norm rather than the exception, have made the rigors of doctoral study that much more bearable and my accomplishments that much more satis- fying than they would be otherwise. 3 Acknowledgments I'm grateful to Dr. Franco Wong for providing me with the opportunity to work on this thesis project and for helping me develop my experimental and analytic skills over the past few years. It's been a rewarding experience to work with and learn from a true expert in the field of nonlinear and quantum optics who is never short of new and clever ideas. He always offered helpful suggestions and insights in all aspects of my thesis work whenever I needed them. I'm also very appreciative of the time and effort he spent in providing thorough comments and suggestions to my thesis draft. I'd like to acknowledge Professor Jeff Shapiro for his insightful comments and suggestions on many aspects of my thesis work during the group seminars. I'd also like to thank him for his helpful comments on my thesis draft. I want to thank Dr. Lenny Johnson at Lincoln Lab for providing me with the facility and resources to carry out the fabrication portion of my thesis work, and Dr. Gary Betts for clearing up many questions I had regarding the processing of lithium niobate devices and optical damage issues in lithium niobate. I'd also like to thank Gary for loaning me the beam profiler which allowed me to characterize the MOPA diode laser beam. A special thanks to Kevin Ray for training me in the photolithography process and for teaching me how to operate the various pieces of equipment in the C400 clean room at Lincoln Lab. I'd also like to acknowledge Skip Hoyt, from whom I learned how to cut and polish the PPLN samples, and other current and former members of Group 83 at Lincoln Lab: Bob Bailey, Fred O'Donnel, Dan Mull, Rich Polluci, Doug Hoyt, Sam Choi, John Twichell, and Dick Williamson for their generosity in offering assistance whenever I needed it. I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Elliott Mason, who over the past year has helped me tremendously in fabricating PPLN samples and in setting up the PPLN OPO experiment. 4 I would also like to thank other current and former members of the group on cam- pus: Jeff Bounds, Reggie Brothers, Jennifer Kleinman, Dicky Lee, Elisa Pasquali, and Joe Teja for their help in various experiments and for the stimulating conversations in lab. I would like to say thanks to my good friends at MIT: Mike Chou, Cynthia Chuang, and Ralph Lin, for all the fun times we had and their lifetime friendship. Finally, I would like to dedicate this thesis to my family: my father Tsu-Wei, my mother Soe-Mie, my wife Stephanie, and my sister Jocelyn, for their love and support. 5 Contents 1 Introduction 15 1.1 Background ... .. .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .. .. 15 1.2 Nonlinear Optical 3-Wave Mixing . ... .. ... .. ... .. .. 16 1.2.1 Phasematching .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. 17 1.2.2 Quasi-phasematching .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. .. 18 1.2.3 QPM nonlinear optical frequency conversion applications . .. 20 1.3 M otivation . .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. 21 1.3.1 Applications of nonlinear optics to frequency metrology . .. 21 1.3.2 3-to-1 optical frequency division . .. ... .. .. .. .. .. 24 1.4 Contributions of This Research .. ... .. ... ... .. ... .. 25 1.5 Thesis Organization ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... .. .. 26 2 Theory of QPM Nonlinear Interactions 28 2.1 Overview of Quasi-Phasematching ............ ... ... 29 2.2 QPM Period and Conversion Efficiency . ... .. .. ...... 32 2.3 Quasi-Phasematched Difference-Frequency Generation. .. ... 35 2.4 Quasi-Phasematched Optical Parametric Oscillation . ... ..... 38 2.4.1 The OPO threshold . ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... ... 41 2.4.2 Above-threshold OPO output .. .. .. ... ... ... 44 2.4.3 OPO cavity resonances .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. 47 2.5 Calculation of QPM Grating Period .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. 49 2.6 Wavelength and Temperature Bandwidths . ... .. ... .. ... 50 2.6.1 Spectral bandwidth . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ...... 51 6 2.6.2 Temperature bandwidth ... ... 52 2.7 Novel Features of QPM Nonlinear Optics . 54 2.7.1 Use of multiple parallel gratings for OPO tuning. 54 2.7.2 Multiple gratings in series . .... 56 2.7.3 Bandwidth engineering .... ... 59 2.7.4 Chirped QPM gratings .... ... 60 2.7.5 Spatial beam profile engineering . 63 2.8 Nonidealities ... ... ... ... ... .. .. .... ..... ... 63 2.8.1 Sub-optimal duty cycle .... ... ..... .... .... 63 2.8.2 Random duty-cycle error . ... .. .... .... ..... 67 2.8.3 Missing domain reversals ... ... 68 3 Fabrication and Characterization 70 3.1 QPM Materials-Choice of Lithium Niobate . .. ... .. .. ... 71 3.2 Methods of Preparing Domain-reversed Lithium Niobate Crystal . 71 3.3 E-field Poling Method .. ... .. ... ... ... .. ... ... 75 3.4 Fabrication of PPLN ... .. ... .. ... .. ... .. ... .. 81 3.5 Characterization of PPLN . ... ... .. ... ... ... .. .. 88 4 Relevant Work By Others 93 4.1 Early W ork . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 93 4.2 QPM Second Harmonic Generation in PPLN..... 96 4.3 QPM Difference-Frequency Generation in PPLN . 98 4.4 QPM Optical Parametric Oscillation in PPLN .. .. .. 99 4.5 Devices Based On Other Periodically-Poled Materials ... 103 4.5.1 Periodically-poled LiTaO3 . .. .. .. .. .. .. 104 4.5.2 Periodically-poled KTP and RTA .. .. .. .. 106 5 The Master Oscillator/ Power Amplifier Diode Laser System 108 5.1 Introduction . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 108 5.2 B ackground .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. 110 7 5.3 The M aster Laser .. ..... ..... .... ..... .... .... 111 5.3.1 Operating principle ... ... ... ... ... ... .. ... 111 5.3.2 Physical layout ... ... ... .... ... ... ... ... 113 5.3.3 Current control . .. ... ... ... .. ... ... .. ... 115 5.3.4 Temperature control ... ... .. ... ... ... ... .. 115 5.3.5 Alignment and tuning ... ... ... .. ... ... .. ... 117 5.4 The Slave Laser ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. 120 5.4.1 Operating principles . ... .. ... ... .. ... .. ... 121 5.4.2 Current source and TE cooler . ... .. ... .. .. ... .. 123 5.4.3 Astigmatism compensation .. ... ... .. ... ... .. .. 123 5.4.4 Laser output . ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... .. .. 125 5.5 Frequency Stabilization of Laser Output . ... .. ... .. ... .. 128 5.6 Summary .. ... .. ... .. ... ... .. ... .. ... .. ... 129 6 Three-to-One Optical Frequency Division Experiment 131 6.1 The Optical-to-Microwave Frequency Chain . .. ... ...... 131 6.1.1 2:1 optical frequency division . ... .. .. .. .... .. 132 6.1.2 3:1 optical frequency division . .. ... .. .. .... .. 132 6.2 The Double-Grating PPLN Crystal .. .. ... .. .. .... .. 136 6.2.1 Grating design and fabrication ... .. .. ... .. .... 136 6.2.2 Characterization . ... .. ... .. ... .. ... .. 140 6.3 Experimental Setup ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ..... 143 6.3.1 532 nm laser system .. .. .. ... .. .. .. ... ... 143 6.3.2 798 nm laser system . .. .. .. .. .. ... .... .. 143 6.3.3 O ptics . ... .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ..... 145 6.3.4 Detection system .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 147 6.4 Frequency Stabilization .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. ... ... 151 f 5 Reslts ......... .........