Highly efficient octave-spanning long-wavelength infrared generation with a 74% quantum efficiency in a χ(2) waveguide

Bo Hu; Xuemei Yang; Jiangen Wu; Siyi Lu; Hang Yang; Zhe Long; Linzhen He; Xing Luo; Kan Tian; Weizhe Wang; Yang Li; Han Wu; Wenlong Li; Chunyu Guo; Huan Yang; Qi Jie Wang; Houkun Liang

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-42912-0

Highly efficient octave-spanning long-wavelength infrared generation with a 74% quantum efficiency in a χ⁽²⁾ waveguide

Nat Commun. 2023 Nov 6;14(1):7125. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-42912-0.

Authors

Bo Hu^#¹, Xuemei Yang^#¹, Jiangen Wu^#², Siyi Lu¹, Hang Yang¹, Zhe Long¹, Linzhen He¹, Xing Luo³, Kan Tian¹, Weizhe Wang¹, Yang Li¹, Han Wu⁴, Wenlong Li⁵, Chunyu Guo³, Huan Yang⁶, Qi Jie Wang⁷, Houkun Liang⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Electronics and Information Engineering, Sichuan University, 610064, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
² Sino-German College of Intelligent Manufacturing, Shenzhen Technology University, 518118, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
³ College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, 518060, Shenzhen, China.
⁴ School of Electronics and Information Engineering, Sichuan University, 610064, Chengdu, Sichuan, China. hanwu@scu.edu.cn.
⁵ Chengdu Dien PHOTOELECTRIC Technology Co., Ltd., 610100, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
⁶ Sino-German College of Intelligent Manufacturing, Shenzhen Technology University, 518118, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. yanghuan@sztu.edu.cn.
⁷ School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering & The Photonics Institute, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 639798, Singapore.
⁸ School of Electronics and Information Engineering, Sichuan University, 610064, Chengdu, Sichuan, China. hkliang@scu.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

The realization of compact and efficient broadband mid-infrared (MIR) lasers has enormous impacts in promoting MIR spectroscopy for various important applications. A number of well-designed waveguide platforms have been demonstrated for MIR supercontinuum and frequency comb generations based on cubic nonlinearities, but unfortunately third-order nonlinear response is inherently weak. Here, we propose and demonstrate for the first time a χ⁽²⁾ micrometer waveguide platform based on birefringence phase matching for long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) laser generation with a high quantum efficiency. In a ZnGeP₂-based waveguide platform, an octave-spanning spectrum covering 5-11 μm is generated through optical parametric generation (OPG). A quantum conversion efficiency of 74% as a new record in LWIR single-pass parametric processes is achieved. The threshold energy is measured as ~616 pJ, reduced by more than 1-order of magnitude as compared to those of MIR OPGs in bulk media. Our prototype micro-waveguide platform could be extended to other χ⁽²⁾ birefringence crystals and trigger new frontiers of MIR integrated nonlinear photonics.

Abstract

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