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IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics

Infrared image upconversion using two-photon resonant optical four-wave mixing in alkali metal vapors

James H. Newton, J. Young

Published Mar 1, 1980• 11 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present a theoretical and experimental study of IR image upconversion using two-photon resonant optical four-wave mixing in alkali metal vapors. A closed form solution for the upconversion efficiency which includes Doppler broadening of the two-photon transition and a finite bandwidth pump laser is given. Experimental results for two types of image upconverters using Cs are presented. The first upconverts 2.94 μm to 4558 Å with a power efficiency of 32 percent and1.6 \times 10^{4}resolvable spots. The second is IR tunable, but of lower efficiency and resolution. Finally, the optimized characteristics of the Cs upconverter are compared to crystal upconverters and to the requirements of various applications.

DOI
10.1109/jqe.1980.1070485

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Frontiers of Physics•Mar 6, 2023•7 citations
We present a theoretical and experimental study of IR image upconversion using two-photon resonant optical four-wave mixing in alkali metal vapors. A closed form solution for the upconversion efficiency which includes Doppler broadening of the two-photon transition and a finite bandwidth pump laser is given. Experimental results for two types of image upconverters using Cs are presented. The first upconverts 2.94 μm to 4558 Å with a power efficiency of 32 percent and1.6 \times 10^{4}resolvable spots. The second is IR tunable, but of lower efficiency and resolution. Finally, the optimized characteristics of the Cs upconverter are compared to crystal upconverters and to the requirements of various applications.
This paper considers the limitations of (near) two-photon-resonant frequency up-conversion due to quadratic Kerr effect, two-photon absorption, and Raman scattering. These processes, which are intimately tied to the four-wave mixing process, limit the efficiency and/or the pulse length due to breaking of phase-matching, attenuation, and (de)focusing. General expressions are derived for the limits on the efficiency and the pulse length resulting from these processes. The results of the theoretical analysis are applied to three examples of great practical interest; i.e., tripling of the CO2laser in liquid CO, mixing of IR photons using vibrational nonlinearities, and IR image up-conversion in alkali metal vapors. Several new, important properties of these systems are derived.
Abstract In the four‐wave parametric upconverter based on isotropic alkali‐metal vapor which is considered useful as an infrared detector, the acceptance angle characteristics of the infrared ray have been studied theoretically in the case of angle phase matching (or pump phase matching) in which a phase matching is taken by way of small angular difference of two pumping light beams. It is found that various acceptance angle characteristics such as single‐peak, double‐peak, and multi‐peak characteristics can be obtained by adjustment of two pumping light angles, if the collinear phase mismatch is negative due to anomalous dispersion of the metal vapor. The collinear phase mismatch is defined as the magnitude of wave vector of the sum frequency minus the sum of the magnitudes of the wave vectors of two pumping beams and the infrared beam. A flat and broad acceptance angle is obtained in the case of tangential phase matching. It is also found that an optimum state as an image upconverter with a high conversion efficiency and a large acceptance angle exists in the four‐wave parametric upconverter of the two‐photon resonance excitation type in which a large conversion efficiency has been expected.
A theoretical investigation is made of the influence of various effects on four-photon parametric upconversion in metal vapors: saturation, one-photon absorption of output radiation, two-photon depletion of pump radiation, wave detuning, and dispersion of the group velocities of the interacting waves. Estimates indicate that the simultaneous influence of all these effects can ensure a fairly efficient up-conversion of noise pump radiation, compared with the monochromatic case. The results agree well with the experimental results obtained in a study of conversion of tunable CO2 laser radiation in sodium vapor.
Diode-pumped alkali lasers, possessing high efficiency and narrow linewidth, can provide feasible solutions for wavelength ranges difficult to reach by commercial lasers. In this study, we investigate a generation of coherent blue light (CBL) via four-wave mixing (FWM)-based up-conversion processes in cesium (Cs) vapor. A bichromatic pumping scheme with 852- and 917-nm lasers drives the Cs atoms to the 6 D 5/2 excited level, followed by cascaded decay of 6 D 5/2 → 7 P 3/2 → 6 S 1/2 , producing 456-nm CBL under phase matching conditions. The fluorescence in multiple bands from blue to near- and far-infrared in the FWM process is demonstrated under different experimental conditions. To optimize the experimental parameters, we investigate the dependence of 456-nm CBL on the vapor temperature, frequency, and intensity of the two pump lasers. A maximum power of 2.94 mW is achieved with pump powers of 430 mW (for 852 nm) and 470 mW (for 917 nm). The corresponding conversion efficiency is 1.5%/W, three-fold higher than those in previous studies. Our results can contribute to fundamental research on atom—photon interactions and quantum metrology.