Affiliation:
1. University of California Los Angeles
2. Mesa Photonics
3. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University
4. California NanoSystems Institute
Abstract
We present a single-stage optical parametric amplifier (OPA) with an average conversion efficiency up to 38%, tunable between 1.01 and 1.18 µm. The OPA seed is produced by a gain-managed nonlinear fiber amplifier. Numerical modeling of the seed pulse generation shows a linear chirp, a smoothly broadened redshifted spectrum, and a high spectral energy density. When up-converted to the visible through second-harmonic generation, the signal pulses are suitable for visible photocathode excitation.
Subject
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics