In this Letter, we investigate a method for controlling the intensity of a light by another light in a periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate（PPMgLN） crystal with a transverse applied external electric field. The power of the emergent light can be modulated by the power ratio of the incident ordinary and extraordinary beams. The light intensity control is experimentally demonstrated by the Mach–Zehnder interference configuration, and the results are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.
A passively Q-swithched mode-locked （QML） Tm：LiLuF4 （LLF） laser with a MoS2 saturable absorber （SA） is demonstrated for the first time, to our best knowledge. For the Q-switching mode, the maximum average output power and Q-switched pulse energy are 583 mW and 41.5 μJ, respectively. When the absorbed power is greater than 7.4 W, the passively QML pulse is formed, corresponding to an 83.3-MHz frequency. The modulation depth in Q-switching envelopes is approximately 50%. Results prove that MoS2 is a promising SA for Q-switched and QML solid-state lasers.
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.
A mode-locked（ML）picosecond ytterbium-doped thin disk laser using a monolayer Mo S2as the saturable absorber（SA）is demonstrated.The monolayer MoS2 is fabricated through the method of low-pressure chemical vapor deposition.The laser directly produces stable ML picosecond pulses at a slope efficiency of 9.71%.The maximum output power is approximately 890 mW,while the corresponding repetition,pulse energy,and pulse duration are 48.6 MHz,18.3 nJ,and 13.1 ps,respectively.Results suggest that the monolayer MoS2 is a promising SA for ultrafast lasers system.
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.
We propose an efficient method for characterizing the orbital angular momentum （OAM） of an optical vortex with a large topological charge （TC） through distinguishing the interference pattern of the non- uniformly-distributed nmlti-pinholes using fewer pinholes. This method overcomes the limit on large TC detection by nmlti-point interferometer and can be used to probe optical vortices with arbitrary sizes. In addition, it also has potential application in measuring light beam with OAM from astronomical sources.
