title: Actively mode-locked optical parametric oscillator.
abstract: We report on what we believe to be the first demonstration of active mode locking of an optical parametric oscillator. An acousto-optic modulator is inserted into a nearly degenerate (approximately 1064 nm) and doubly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled LiNbO3 and pumped with the second harmonic of a quasi-continuous-wave single-frequency Nd:YAG laser. When the modulation frequency is matched to the free spectral range of the cavity (120 MHz), a pulsed regime is observed, with pulse durations as short as 700 ps.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Aimé Cotton, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UPR 3321, Campus d'Orsay, Bâtiment 505, 91405 Orsay, France., and O nicolas.forget@polytechnique.fr
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Forget
authors.forename: Sofiane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bahbah
authors.forename: Cyril
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Drag
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bretenaker
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lefèbvre
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rosencher