Patent ID: 6215800
Filing Date: 2001-04-10
Classification: G02F

Abstract:
An intracavity difference-frequency mixing optical parametric oscillator for maximizing the pump to idler wave conversion comprising:(a) an optical pump source for providing a pump beam at a primary wavelength;(b) a singly resonant cavity having an input end and an output end;(c) a first nonlinear optical medium disposed in said cavity for sustaining optical parametric oscillation by producing a signal frequency and an idler frequency;(d) a second nonlinear optical medium for sustaining difference-frequency mixing by producing an additional idler frequency and a difference-frequency coaxially disposed in said cavity with said first nonlinear optical medium, wherein said second nonlinear optical medium is positioned between said first nonlinear optical medium and said output and of said cavity;(e) an input mirror, positioned at the input end of said cavity, for coupling the pump beam into the resonator cavity and through the first and second nonlinear optical mediums; and(f) a high reflector output mirror positioned at the output end of said cavity, adapted to couple the difference-frequency, the idler frequency and the additional idler frequency external to the cavity, and further adapted to be non-transparent and to reflect the signal frequency to fully contain the signal frequency within the resonator cavity.