title: Ultrabroadband tunable continuous-wave difference-frequency generation in periodically poled lithium niobate waveguides.
abstract: We report, for what is the first time to our knowledge, widely tunable mid-IR light generation over a range of greater than 1000 nm in the 4 microm region by employing a single quasi-phase-matched periodically poled niobate waveguide at room temperature. The waveguide we used was fabricated by annealed proton exchange based on periodically poled lithium niobate. A peak conversion efficiency of 10%/W and a linewidth as small as 37 MHz were achieved. The developed mid-IR light generator may find wide applications in trace gas detection of multiple atmospheric species and high-resolution spectroscopy.
authors.affiliation: Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
authors.forename: Zhensong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Wanguo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Lunhua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Changqing
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Weijun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhiben
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao