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Communications Physics

Strong double space-time wave packets using optical parametric amplification

Zhaoyang Li, Yuxin Leng, Ruxin Li

Published Nov 21, 2022• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract The space-time (ST) wave packet, a new type light source with many new features, has already found applications in weak-field optics, however its generation method limits its energy and therefore its application in strong-field optics. We report that the type-I collinear optical parametric amplification (OPA) is a natural amplifier for ST wave packets, because in it, the ST spectrum (i.e., angle-dependent phase-matching spectrum) of the signal and idler has the same analytical expression as that of ST wave packets under the narrowband approximation. The high gain in a thin-crystal OPA allows for large energy amplification while ensuring unchanged ST correlation. Meanwhile, for the first time, a double ST wave packet containing two collinear-propagating ones of the amplified signal and the generated idler via the nondegenerate OPA is reported, which with short- and long-wavelengths (relative to the degenerate-wavelength) have superluminal and subluminal velocities, respectively. This study realizes energy amplification, wavelength conversion, and velocity switching of ST wave packets and will certainly expand the application in many fields.

DOI
10.1038/s42005-022-01085-w

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Abstract The space-time (ST) wave packet, a new type light source with many new features, has already found applications in weak-field optics, however its generation method limits its energy and therefore its application in strong-field optics. We report that the type-I collinear optical parametric amplification (OPA) is a natural amplifier for ST wave packets, because in it, the ST spectrum (i.e., angle-dependent phase-matching spectrum) of the signal and idler has the same analytical expression as that of ST wave packets under the narrowband approximation. The high gain in a thin-crystal OPA allows for large energy amplification while ensuring unchanged ST correlation. Meanwhile, for the first time, a double ST wave packet containing two collinear-propagating ones of the amplified signal and the generated idler via the nondegenerate OPA is reported, which with short- and long-wavelengths (relative to the degenerate-wavelength) have superluminal and subluminal velocities, respectively. This study realizes energy amplification, wavelength conversion, and velocity switching of ST wave packets and will certainly expand the application in many fields.
In the presence of a nonzero idler beam or, equivalently, in the collinear degenerate configuration, optical parametric amplification (OPA) can be phase sensitive. When the photon deamplification mode is selected in the OPA process, amplification of the optical phase occurs instead of the usual amplification of photon number. We demonstrate for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, that the operation of a spatially multimodal optical parametric amplifier in the phase-sensitive mode can result in a significant redistribution of spatial frequencies and near-ideal beam angle amplification. A numerical model is presented for phase-sensitive parametric amplification via three-wave mixing. The model is applied to monochromatic beams and finite beam apertures. The sensitivity of gain to the incident phase, noncollinear angle, and aperture size is studied in particular. Simple conditions are derived for the operation of the optical parametric amplifier in the phase-sensitive mode. Potential applications of the concept are discussed.
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Slow and fast light are ubiquitous in optical amplifiers. In this Letter, we show for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, that optical parametric amplification (OPA) in chirped quasi-phase-matching structures can act as a platform for group-velocity control in the femtosecond regime. The resonant cascaded nonlinear phase underlies the group-velocity control, which manifests an unusual effect that both slow and fast light can be achieved under the normal condition of signal amplification. As numerically demonstrated in the OPA based on the lithium niobate crystal, the signal and idler pulse can be significantly delayed in time comparable to the signal duration and can also keep high fidelity for durations down to 100 fs until the crystal dispersion becomes effective. The broad bandwidth, large group delay, and direct compatibility with integrated optics will make the proposed platform attractive to both fundamental research and applied science.
Optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs) in traveling-wave configuration can generate localized spatial quantum correlations between a signal and an idler beam, a useful resource for quantum imaging. To characterize the spatial correspondence between the optical modes of the signal and those of the idler, we look at the classical transverse dynamics of these beams when they propagate in a generic thick OPA at a nominally small angle. In these conditions, the beams tend to copropagate while maintaining a fixed separation, a phenomenon that we term hitching. We develop a model for hitching, validated by a numerical simulation, and provide an experimental demonstration using four-wave mixing in a hot atomic vapor. They show that the OPA gain is the primary influence on the final hitching distance. These results have implications for the generation of multi-spatial-mode squeezed light for quantum imaging applications, where the exact spatial correlations between the quantum fluctuations of the signal and the idler are of prime importance.
A concept for an ultra-broad-band optical parametric amplifier or oscillator has emerged as a by-product of a theoretical study in fundamental quantum optics. The study was originally intended to address the question of whether the two-photon temporal correlation function of light [in particular, light produced by spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC)] can be considerably narrower than the inverse of the spectral width (bandwidth) of the light. The answer to the question was found to be negative. More specifically, on the basis of the universal integral relations between the quantum two-photon temporal correlation and the classical spectrum of light, it was found that the lower limit of two-photon correlation time is set approximately by the inverse of the bandwidth. The mathematical solution for the minimum two-photon correlation time also provides the minimum relative frequency dispersion of the down-converted light components; in turn, the minimum relative frequency dispersion translates to the maximum bandwidth, which is important for the design of an ultra-broad-band optical parametric oscillator or amplifier. In the study, results of an analysis of the general integral relations were applied in the case of an optically nonlinear, frequency-dispersive crystal in which SPDC produces collinear photons. Equations were found for the crystal orientation and pump wavelength, specific for each parametric-down-converting crystal, that eliminate the relative frequency dispersion of collinear degenerate (equal-frequency) signal and idler components up to the fourth order in the frequency-detuning parameter
Abstract We present results of a theoretical analysis of an optical parametric amplification (OPA) in a collinear nearly degenerate four-wave mixing configuration close to the resonance of a two-level transition in χ ′ ′ ′ media. It is performed both for homogeneously and for inhomogeneously broadened spectral line using a standard set of Bloch equations in the semiclassical approximation. Unlike the traditional approach of a coupled propagation of the signal/idler waves, we treat OPA as a coupled propagation of the amplitude and phase modulations of the pump wave with the signal/idler waves as the modulation sidebands. We show that for low frequency off-sets between the pump and the signal/idler waves, OPA process is basically manifested in a unidirectional transformation of the input amplitude modulation of the pump wave into the output phase modulation. The frequency band of the OPA is determined by detuning the pump wave from the resonance transition. The obtained results are applied to evaluate the expected OPA gain for the acetylene-filled micro-structured fiber with the resonance vibration-rotational transitions in the 1500–1550 nm spectral range.