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The editors introduce the feature issue on “Nonlinear Optics 2015,” which is based on the topics presented at the NLO 2015 conference held in Kauai, Hawaii, from July 26-31, 2015. This feature issue is jointly published by Optics Express and Optical Materials Express.
© 2016 Optical Society of America
The NLO 2015 Conference was held July 26-31, 2015 on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, and included a total of over 160 oral and poster papers (Fig. 1). The work reported at the conference falls into three broad categories: 1. Fundamental Studies and New Concepts; 2. Nonlinear Materials and 3. Applications. This joint Optics Express/Optical Materials Express feature issue contains only a small fraction of these papers, so by no means does it give a complete picture of the meeting. Note that this is not a proceedings, as all papers in the feature issue must report new, previously unpublished work and they undergo the normal review process for the journals, which is independent of the conference review. As is normal, many conference papers may report on work that has been recently published, which automatically precludes them from publishing in the feature issue.
The 13 papers in this issue (9 Optics Express and 4 Optical Materials Express) cover a broad range of nonlinear optical effects. A significant fraction of the papers are devoted to ultrafast phenomena, particularly in femtosecond pulse generation. The work of Sobon, et. al. [1] explores the use of multilayer graphene in mode-locking Er- and Tm-doped fiber lasers, finding that large numbers of layers are required to produce optimal performance for sub-picosecond mode-locked operation. Ma, et. al. [2] employ dissipative soliton operation in a diode pumped Yb:NaY(WO4)2 laser to obtain stable, 54 fs pulses, while dissipative soliton resonance was used in a fiber by Krzempek, et. al. [3] to enable an all-fiber source of long (nanosecond), square shaped pulses for use in md-IR generation via Difference frequency generation. A nonlinear pulse compressor is used by Kono et. al. [4] to generate 140 fs pulses in the blue-violet spectral region from a GaInN semiconductor laser. Chao and Wagner present a numerical study of Raman solitons produced during continuum generation if a photonic crystal fiber [5]. Rounding out the work on ultrafast nonlinear optics, Karras, et. al. report on a new nonlinear glass, SiO2-Al2O3-La2O3, for efficient Kerr-gating [6].
Nonlinear mixing for the generation of new wavelengths has always been a staple of the NLO conference and a number of papers in this area are represented in this feature. Continuous-wave Mid IR generation in orientation-patterned GaP is reported by Guha et. al. [7], while optimization of THz generation in LiNbO3 is explored by Zhong, et. al. [8] The performance of LiNbO3 and similar crystals under high-power laser irradiation for second-harmonic generation applications is studied by Kato et. al. using a rate-equation model, showing that accumulation of polarons is responsible for a decrease in the damage threshold of these types of crystal [9]. Sum-Frequency generation via mixing of 800 nm and 1300 nm wavelength sources via nonlinear Cherenkov radiation at a surface is experimentally demonstrated vis Wang, et. al. [10]. The control of an effective second-order nonlinearity in random quadratic media is reported by Ayoub, et. al., where different ferroelectric domain-size statistics are generated by electric field poling [11].
The challenging task of beam-combining is addressed by Lushnikov and Vladimirova, who model the combining of multiple laser beams into a single near diffraction-limited beam by beam self-focusing (collapse) in a Kerr medium [12]. Finally, another modeling paper by Rosa, et. al. addresses the optimization of signal power asymmetry in different advanced fiber Raman amplification schemes using a random DFB Raman laser amplifier [13].
References and links
1. G. Sobon, J. Sotor, I. Pasternak, A. Krajewska, W. Strupinski, and K. M. Abramski, “Multilayer graphene-based saturable absorbers with scalable modulation depth for mode-locked Er- and Tm-doped fiber lasers,” Opt. Mater. Express 5(12), 2884–2894 (2015). [CrossRef]
2. J. Ma, J. Wang, D. Shen, H. Yu, H. Zhang, and D. Tang, “Dissipative soliton operation of a diode pumped Yb:NaY(WO4)2 laser,” Opt. Express 23(25), 32311–32317 (2015). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
3. K. Krzempek, G. Sobon, J. Sotor, and K. M. Abramski, “Fully-integrated dual-wavelength all-fiber source for mode-locked square-shaped mid-IR pulse generation via DFG in PPLN,” Opt. Express 23(25), 32080–32086 (2015). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
4. S. Kono, H. Watanabe, R. Koda, N. Fuutagawa, and H. Narui, “140-fs duration and 60-W peak power blue-violet optical pulses generated by a dispersion-compensated GaInN mode-locked semiconductor laser diode using a nonlinear pulse compressor,” Opt. Express 23(25), 31766–31771 (2015). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
5. M. Ayoub, M. Paßlick, J. Imbrock, and C. Denz, “Controlling the effective second-order susceptibility in random quadratic media,” Opt. Express 23(26), 33980–33991 (2015). [CrossRef]
6. C. Karras, W. Paa, D. Litzkendorf, S. Grimm, K. Schuster, and H. Stafast, “SiO2-Al2O3-La2O3 glass - a superior medium for optical Kerr gating at moderate pump intensity,” Opt. Mater. Express 6(1), 125–130 (2016). [CrossRef]
7. S. Guha, J. O. Barnes, and P. G. Schunemann, “Mid-wave infrared generation by difference frequency mixing of continuous wave lasers in orientation-patterned Gallium phosphide,” Opt. Mater. Express 5(12), 2911–2923 (2015). [CrossRef]
8. S. C. Zhong, Z. H. Zhai, J. Li, L. G. Zhu, J. Li, K. Meng, Q. Liu, L. H. Du, J. H. Zhao, and Z. R. Li, “Optimization of terahertz generation from LiNbO3 under intense laser excitation with the effect of three-photon absorption,” Opt. Express 23(24), 31313–31323 (2015). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
9. S. Kato, S. Kurimura, and N. Mio, “Rate-equation model of light-induced heating in LiNbO3-type crystals under high-average-power laser irradiation,” Opt. Mater. Express 6(2), 396–401 (2016).
10. X. Wang, J. Cao, X. Zhao, Y. Zheng, H. Ren, X. Deng, and X. Chen, “Sum-frequency nonlinear Cherenkov radiation generated on the boundary of bulk medium crystal,” Opt. Express 23(25), 31838–31843 (2015). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
11. M. Ayoub, M. Paßlick, J. Imbrock, and C. Denz, “Controlling the effective second-order susceptibility in random quadratic media,” Opt. Express 23(26), 33980–33991 (2015). [CrossRef]
12. P. M. Lushnikov and N. Vladimirova, “Modeling of nonlinear combining of multiple laser beams in Kerr medium,” Opt. Express 23(24), 31120–31125 (2015). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
13. P. Rosa, S. T. Le, G. Rizzelli, M. Tan, and J. D. Ania-Castañón, “Signal power asymmetry optimisation for optical phase conjugation using Raman amplification,” Opt. Express 23(25), 31772–31778 (2015). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
