Quasi-phase-matched gallium arsenide for versatile mid-infrared frequency conversion

Progress in processing low-loss quasi-phase-matched gallium arsenide crystals makes it possible to benefit from their excellent nonlinear properties in practical mid-infrared sources. This paper addresses both crystal growth aspects and the most recent device demonstrations. ©2012 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (190.4400) Nonlinear optics, materials; (140.3070) Infrared and far-infrared lasers. References and links 1. E. D. Palik, Handbook of Optical Constants of Solids (Academic Press, Orlando, 1985). 2. L. A. Gordon, G. L. Woods, R. C. Eckardt, R. R. Route, R. S. Feigelson, M. M. Fejer, and R. L. Byer, “Diffusion-bonded stacked GaAs for quasi-phase-matched second-harmonic generation of a carbon dioxide laser,” Electron. Lett. 29(22), 1942–1944 (1993). 3. P. S. Kuo, K. L. Vodopyanov, M. M. Fejer, X. Yu, J. S. Harris, D. F. Bliss, and D. Weyburne, “GaAs optical parametric oscillator with circularly polarized and depolarized pump,” Opt. Lett. 32(18), 2735–2737 (2007). 4. C. Kieleck, M. Eichhorn, A. Hirth, D. Faye, and E. Lallier, “High-efficiency 20-50 kHz mid-infrared orientationpatterned GaAs optical parametric oscillator pumped by a 2 μm holmium laser,” Opt. Lett. 34(3), 262–264 (2009). 5. S. Koh, T. Kondo, T. Ishiwada, C. Iwamoto, H. Ichinose, H. Yaguchi, T. Usami, Y. Shiraki, and R. Ito, “Sublattice reversal in GaAs/Si/GaAs (100) heterostructures by molecular beam epitaxy,” Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 37(Part 2, No. 12B), L1493–L1496 (1998). 6. C. B. Ebert, L. A. Eyres, M. M. Fejer, and J. S. Harris, Jr., “MBE growth of antiphase GaAs films using GaAs/Ge/GaAs heteroepitaxy,” J. Cryst. Growth 201-202, 187–193 (1999). 7. E. Lallier and A. Grisard, “Quasi-phase matched nonlinear crystals,” in Encyclopedia of Optical Engineering (Marcel Dekker, 2002). 8. E. Gil-Lafon, J. Napierala, D. Castelluci, A. Pimpinelli, R. Cadoret, and B. Gérard, “Selective growth of GaAs by HVPE: keys for accurate control of the growth morphologies,” J. Cryst. Growth 222(3), 482–496 (2001). 9. A. Grisard, F. Gutty, E. Lallier, B. Gérard, and J. Jimenez, “Fabrication and applications of orientation-patterned gallium arsenide for mid-infrared generation,” Phys. Status Solidi C 9(7), 1651–1654 (2012). 10. L. A. Eyres, P. J. Tourreau, T. J. Pinguet, C. B. Ebert, J. S. Harris, M. M. Fejer, L. Becouarn, B. Gerard, and E. Lallier, “All-epitaxial fabrication of thick, orientation-patterned GaAs films for nonlinear optical frequency conversion,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 79(7), 904–906 (2001). 11. K. L. Vodopyanov, O. Levi, P. S. Kuo, T. J. Pinguet, J. S. Harris, M. M. Fejer, B. Gerard, L. Becouarn, and E. Lallier, “Optical parametric oscillation in quasi-phase-matched GaAs,” Opt. Lett. 29(16), 1912–1914 (2004). 12. S. Vasilyev, S. Schiller, A. Nevsky, A. Grisard, D. Faye, E. Lallier, Z. Zhang, A. J. Boyland, J. K. Sahu, M. Ibsen, and W. A. Clarkson, “Broadly tunable single-frequency cw mid-infrared source with milliwatt-level output based on difference-frequency generation in orientation-patterned GaAs,” Opt. Lett. 33(13), 1413–1415 (2008). 13. L. A. Pomeranz, P. G. Schunemann, S. D. Setzler, C. Jones, and P. A. Budni, “Continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator based on orientation patterned gallium arsenide,” in CLEO: QELS-Fundamental Science, OSA Technical Digest (Optical Society of America, 2012), paper JTh1I.4. 14. A. Grisard, F. Gutty, E. Lallier, and B. Gérard, “Compact fiber laser-pumped mid-infrared source based on orientation-patterned gallium arsenide,” Proc. SPIE 7836, 783606 (2010). 15. A. Hildenbrand, C. Kieleck, E. Lallier, D. Faye, A. Grisard, B. Gérard, and M. Eichhorn, “Compact efficient mid-infrared laser source: OP-GaAs OPO pumped by Ho:YAG laser,” Proc. SPIE 8187, 818715 (2011). 16. G. Bloom, A. Grisard, E. Lallier, C. Larat, M. Carras, and X. Marcadet, “Optical parametric amplification of a distributed-feedback quantum-cascade laser in orientation-patterned GaAs,” Opt. Lett. 35(4), 505–507 (2010).