High peak-power laser system tuneable from 8 to 10 μm
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François Gutty
Dr. François Gutty received his PhD degree in 2001 from University of Burgundy, France, on soliton pulse generation in optical fibres and their characterization. He has been in Thales for 15 years where he first worked on laser gyros and joined Thales Research and Technology France in 2009. His current interests cover fibre lasers and amplifiers and Quasi-Phase-Matched frequency-conversion stages. He participated to several EU-funded projects and he is a member of SFO.
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Arnaud Grisard
Arnaud Grisard joined Thales Research and Technology in 1996. He triggered its participation to numerous French and EU-funded projects covering integrated optics, ferroelectric polarization switching, quasi-phase-matched nonlinear interactions, clean room processing of orientation-patterned semiconductor devices, solid-state lasers, parametric sources, and their applications. He regularly reviews papers from several journals and has been acting as evaluator in French and EU panels since 2003.
Christian Larat received his PhD degree in 1991 and the ‘Habilitation à Diriger les Recherches’ in 2000 from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. Christian is an optical expert at Thales Research and Technology (TRT). His points of interests range from diode-pumped solid-state lasers, beam-shaping optics, coherent beam combining, optical design, femtosecond lasers to nonlinear optics.
Dominique Papillon has been working in the Thales Research and Technology group for over 40 years. Dominique has participated in numerous projects covering integrated optics, ferroelectric polarization switching, quasi-phase-matched nonlinear interactions, solid-state lasers, parametric sources, and their applications. She currently implements and studies the assembly of new amplified fiber sources.
Muriel Schwarz received her Engineering degree from CNAM (Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers) in ‘Instrumentation, Measurements, Optical Science’. Muriel joined Thales in 1991 and realized various laser sources in the framework of contracts and partnerships with French-funded projects, Thales divisions, CNES. She has participated in numerous projects covering laser sources pumped by laser diode, nonlinear optics, fiber lasers, and mode-locked cavity laser.
Bruno Gérard graduated from Ecole Centrale de Paris (1986) and then from the Univ. Paris VI (PhD in Materials Science). Since 1988, his research activity is dedicated to the elaboration of innovative and complex heterostructures, and to the development of novel integration techniques for a wide range of semiconductors and devices. He is currently the head of the Technology Platforms at III-V Lab. He is also Associated Professor in Quantum and Semiconductor Physics at the Ecole Polytechnique.
Ralf Ostendorf received his PhD degree in Physics from the University of Muenster, Germany, in 2005. In 2007, he joined the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF) in Freiburg, Germany. Since 2009, he has been working in the development of semiconductor lasers and quantum cascade lasers with focus on QCL based external cavity laser. Since the beginning of 2016, he has been the head of the business unit ‘Semiconductor Lasers’ at Fraunhofer IAF.
Joachim Wagner received his PhD degree in Physics from the University in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1982. He joined the Fraunhofer-Institute for Applied Solid State Physics, Freiburg, Germany, in 1985. There, he is currently the acting Executive Director. He is also a Professor at the Institute of Physics of the University of Freiburg. His current research interests include optoelectronic devices in particular for the infrared spectral range, as well as their integration into modules and systems.
Eric Lallier received his PhD degree in Physics from the University Paris XI in 1992. In 1987, he joined what is now Thales Research and Technology as a PhD student. He was a staff member in 1990, the head of two successive laboratories from 1996 to 2009, and is a senior expert in the Physics Research Group since 2009. He has been working in several fields such as bulk and integrated lasers, optoelectronics, and nonlinear optics.
Abstract
A high peak-power rapidly tuneable laser system in the long-wave infrared is obtained using an external cavity quantum-cascade laser (EC-QCL) broadly tuneable from 8 to 10 μm and an optical parametric amplifier (OPA) based on quasi phase-matching in orientation-patterned gallium arsenide (OP-GaAs). To provide an efficient amplification, the nonlinear crystal is pumped by a pulsed fiber laser source. With a pump laser source tuneable around 2 μm, quasi phase-matching remains satisfied with a fixed grating period in the OP-GaAs crystal when the EC-QCL wavelength is swept from 8 to 10 μm. The OPA demonstrates parametric amplification from 8 to 10 μm and achieves output peak powers up to 140 W, with spectral linewidths below 3.5 cm−1 and a beam profile quality (M2) below 3.4 in both horizontal and vertical directions.
About the authors
Dr. François Gutty received his PhD degree in 2001 from University of Burgundy, France, on soliton pulse generation in optical fibres and their characterization. He has been in Thales for 15 years where he first worked on laser gyros and joined Thales Research and Technology France in 2009. His current interests cover fibre lasers and amplifiers and Quasi-Phase-Matched frequency-conversion stages. He participated to several EU-funded projects and he is a member of SFO.
Arnaud Grisard joined Thales Research and Technology in 1996. He triggered its participation to numerous French and EU-funded projects covering integrated optics, ferroelectric polarization switching, quasi-phase-matched nonlinear interactions, clean room processing of orientation-patterned semiconductor devices, solid-state lasers, parametric sources, and their applications. He regularly reviews papers from several journals and has been acting as evaluator in French and EU panels since 2003.
Christian Larat received his PhD degree in 1991 and the ‘Habilitation à Diriger les Recherches’ in 2000 from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. Christian is an optical expert at Thales Research and Technology (TRT). His points of interests range from diode-pumped solid-state lasers, beam-shaping optics, coherent beam combining, optical design, femtosecond lasers to nonlinear optics.
Dominique Papillon has been working in the Thales Research and Technology group for over 40 years. Dominique has participated in numerous projects covering integrated optics, ferroelectric polarization switching, quasi-phase-matched nonlinear interactions, solid-state lasers, parametric sources, and their applications. She currently implements and studies the assembly of new amplified fiber sources.
Muriel Schwarz received her Engineering degree from CNAM (Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers) in ‘Instrumentation, Measurements, Optical Science’. Muriel joined Thales in 1991 and realized various laser sources in the framework of contracts and partnerships with French-funded projects, Thales divisions, CNES. She has participated in numerous projects covering laser sources pumped by laser diode, nonlinear optics, fiber lasers, and mode-locked cavity laser.
Bruno Gérard graduated from Ecole Centrale de Paris (1986) and then from the Univ. Paris VI (PhD in Materials Science). Since 1988, his research activity is dedicated to the elaboration of innovative and complex heterostructures, and to the development of novel integration techniques for a wide range of semiconductors and devices. He is currently the head of the Technology Platforms at III-V Lab. He is also Associated Professor in Quantum and Semiconductor Physics at the Ecole Polytechnique.
Ralf Ostendorf received his PhD degree in Physics from the University of Muenster, Germany, in 2005. In 2007, he joined the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF) in Freiburg, Germany. Since 2009, he has been working in the development of semiconductor lasers and quantum cascade lasers with focus on QCL based external cavity laser. Since the beginning of 2016, he has been the head of the business unit ‘Semiconductor Lasers’ at Fraunhofer IAF.
Joachim Wagner received his PhD degree in Physics from the University in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1982. He joined the Fraunhofer-Institute for Applied Solid State Physics, Freiburg, Germany, in 1985. There, he is currently the acting Executive Director. He is also a Professor at the Institute of Physics of the University of Freiburg. His current research interests include optoelectronic devices in particular for the infrared spectral range, as well as their integration into modules and systems.
Eric Lallier received his PhD degree in Physics from the University Paris XI in 1992. In 1987, he joined what is now Thales Research and Technology as a PhD student. He was a staff member in 1990, the head of two successive laboratories from 1996 to 2009, and is a senior expert in the Physics Research Group since 2009. He has been working in several fields such as bulk and integrated lasers, optoelectronics, and nonlinear optics.
Acknowledgments
The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement n°17884, the collaborative Integrated Project MIRIFISENS and the EDA JIP-CBRN A-1152-RT-GP project AMURFOCAL. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.
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©2017 THOSS Media & De Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Cover and Frontmatter
- Community
- Conference Notes
- News from the European Optical Society EOS
- Topical Issue: Photonics in Security Systems
- Editorial
- Photonics in security systems
- Review Article
- Hyperspectral imaging: future applications in security systems
- Letter
- Development of an open-path gas analyser for plume detection in security applications
- Research Articles
- Standoff detection and classification of bacteria by multispectral laser-induced fluorescence
- Hyperspectral data acquisition and analysis in imaging and real-time active MIR backscattering spectroscopy
- High peak-power laser system tuneable from 8 to 10 μm
- Mid-infrared laser beam steering based on Fourier transform OPO
- Adaptive holographic interferometer based on optically addressed spatial light modulator for high-sensitivity optical fiber sensing
- IPS – a vision aided navigation system
- Ga-La-S-Se glass for visible and thermal imaging
- Picosecond imaging of signal propagation in integrated circuits
Articles in the same Issue
- Cover and Frontmatter
- Community
- Conference Notes
- News from the European Optical Society EOS
- Topical Issue: Photonics in Security Systems
- Editorial
- Photonics in security systems
- Review Article
- Hyperspectral imaging: future applications in security systems
- Letter
- Development of an open-path gas analyser for plume detection in security applications
- Research Articles
- Standoff detection and classification of bacteria by multispectral laser-induced fluorescence
- Hyperspectral data acquisition and analysis in imaging and real-time active MIR backscattering spectroscopy
- High peak-power laser system tuneable from 8 to 10 μm
- Mid-infrared laser beam steering based on Fourier transform OPO
- Adaptive holographic interferometer based on optically addressed spatial light modulator for high-sensitivity optical fiber sensing
- IPS – a vision aided navigation system
- Ga-La-S-Se glass for visible and thermal imaging
- Picosecond imaging of signal propagation in integrated circuits
