Terahertz optical frequency comb generation with optimized cascaded difference frequency generation

• Published in: Optical review (Tokyo, Japan) Vol. 30; no. 4; pp. 411 - 417
• Main Authors: Li, Zhongyang, Yang, Lulu, Wang, Kaiwu, Shi, Chenxu, Chen, Zhiliang, Xu, Juan, Bing, Pibin, Zhu, Anfu, Xu, Degang, Zhong, Kai, Yao, Jianquan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Springer Japan 01.08.2023
• Subjects: Atomic; Lasers; Microwaves; Molecular; Optical and Plasma Physics; Optical Devices; Optics; Photonics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Quantum Optics; Regular Paper; RF and Optical Engineering; Terahertz optical frequency comb; Cascaded difference frequency generation; Aperiodically periodically poled lithium niobate
• ISSN: 1340-6000; 1349-9432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10043-023-00826-8

A novel scheme that generates terahertz optical frequency comb (THz OFC) based on optimized cascaded difference frequency generation (OCDFG) with an aperiodically poled lithium niobate (APPLN) crystal is proposed. Two pump lasers initially generate cascaded optical waves by cascaded difference frequency generation (CDFG), the n multiple-frequency THz waves are generated by mixing cascaded optical waves, and finally THz OFC is formed by optimizing phase mismatches of CDFG along the APPLN crystal length. High-performance THz OFC with characteristics of high repetition rate, tunable repetition rate, high flatness and tunable spectral distribution range is exhibited by providing a theoretical calculation. We argue that the scheme based on OCDFG is promising for achieving high-performance THz OFC.