GROWTH AND STUDY OF NOVEL NLO MATERIALS FOR QPM FREQUENCY CONVERSIONS IN THE MLWIR
Abstract
In spite of the huge number of pulsed and continuous?wave (cw) laser sources developed, there are still wavelength ranges that are barely populated with any direct coherent source. Compact high?power tunable laser sources in the mid and long?wave infrared (MLWIR) and, especially, such sources cover the second (2?5 ?m) and third (8?12 ?m) atmospheric windows of transparency are not only missing but are, also, in great demand for a wide variety of applications, both military and civilian, in industry, medicine, etc. Three?wave mixing nonlinear processes in acentric crystals (materials possessing second?order nonlinear susceptibility) is a viable alternative approach of frequency down?conversion of well?established direct sources via phase or quasi?phase matching (QPM) in such nonlinear optical (NLO) materials that has been highly successful to develop indirect (secondary) coherent sources. However, most of the NLO materials studied to date have reached some fundamental or technological limits. This is in particular true for non?oxide NLO crystals, including chalcogenides and pnictides, which are the materials of choice above 4 ?m. This project is devoted to the characterization of new heteroepitaxially grown NLO materials with tailored properties. Heteroepitaxy is the only choice when large area crystalline native substrates for orientation?patterned (OP) QPM devices are unavailable (e.g. in the case of many II–VI and III–VI semiconductors), but it is also preferable when a material with the desired characteristics (e.g. GaP) can be grown successfully on a cheaper, robust and with higher quality substrate (GaAs) or OP?template (OP?GaAs) in spite of the relatively large lattice mismatch between the cubic GaP and GaAs. The Max Born Institute and AFRL have already years of fruitful exchange of ideas and scientific information. In the present project, we will combine efforts, capabilities, skills and expertise that complement each other.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2021
- Source ID
- FA86552017053
Entities
People
- Valentin Petrov
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Forschungsverbund Berlin
- United States Air Force