On the basis of a home-made femtosecond Yb-doped fiber laser, we designed a compact and efficient third harmonic generation scheme by a simple compensation plate of β-BaB₂O₄ crystal. The compensation plate is optimized through its thickness and cutting angle to reverse both spatial and temporal walk-off. By optimizing the parameters of the compensation plate and incident light intensity, a maximum output of 2.23 W with a repetition rate of 1 MHz at 345 nm is obtained, which implies a conversion efficiency of 23% from the infrared to ultraviolet.

Fifth harmonic generation (5th HG) of a Nd:glass laser is an effective way to acquire high-energy coherent deep-ultraviolet radiation near 200 nm. In this work, cascade generation of the fifth harmonic of a Nd:glass laser in a 5 mm ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP) crystal was investigated, and maximum conversion efficiency of 14% and large angular acceptance of 45 mrad were demonstrated at a noncritical phase-matching temperature of 75.1°C. However, as the results reveal, the temperature sensitivity and nonlinear absorption would hinder its high-energy application. As for that, based on the complementary relationship of the angle and temperature in the phase-matching condition, an upgraded focusing 5th HG design coupled with the cylindrical temperature distribution scheme was proposed. By this upgraded focusing design, more than the improvement of the conversion efficiency, the output 5ω near-field intensity distribution turns out to be insensitive to the temperature gradient. Potentially, this idea can be applied for many other frequency conversion schemes such as high-repetition frequency lasers, which have similar temperature gradient problems.

We demonstrate the full vectorial feature of second-harmonic generation (SHG), i.e., from infrared full Poincaré beams to visible full Poincaré beams, based on two cascading type I phase-matching beta barium borate crystals of orthogonal optical axes. We visualize the structured features of the vectorial SHG wave by using Stokes polarimetry and show the interesting doubling effect of the polarization topological index, i.e., a low-order full Poincaré beam is converted to a high-order one. However, the polarization singularities of both C points and L lines are found to keep invariant during the SHG process. Our scheme could offer a deeper understanding on the interaction of vectorial light fields with media and can be generalized to other nonlinear optical effects.

In this Letter, a new method is presented to calculate the interactive length between the fundamental wave and second harmonic generation (SHG) for the configuration of total internal reflection on the inner surface of a nonlinear crystal. Three independent experiments are designed to measure the bandwidths of this second harmonic wave. The theoretical expression of the intensity of SHG is obtained through a nonlinear coupled wave equation. The interactive length of this phase-matched SHG can be calculated mathematically by utilizing the measured bandwidths and the intensity equation. There is no existing method to obtain the interactive length either from theoretical calculations or by experimental measurement. This method can be applied to estimate the extremely short interactive volume in nonlinear processes.

Collinear phase-matching of sum-frequency generation (SFG) has been studied thoroughly previously, while non-collinear schemes are sometimes more flexible in application. However, this phase-matching type is more difficult to meet and control. We employ a convenient method to obtain harmonic generation in bulk potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP), using an incident wave vector and a reflected wave vector to create a triangle phase-matching relationship. With a simple, flexible set-up, we can observe 351 nm SFG, and the conversion efficiency is up to ～3.6% per reflection. Furthermore, we believe this approach has potential application value and improvement space.

A monolithic lens-window-prism (LWP) device, made of lithium fluoride (LiF) or magnesium fluoride (MgF₂), was proposed. When either of the devices was fixed onto one end of a gas cell filled with Xe, it becomes a “wedge-crystal”-like device and was used to convert a 1 MHz femtosecond 347 nm laser to its third harmonic radiation at 10.7 eV. This led to an improved beam profile and a more compact and less lossy configuration. A stable output power of ～11 μW was demonstrated for 2 h using LiF-LWP. In addition, MgF₂-LWP was also verified for its practicability at 10.7 eV.

Future quantum information networks operated on telecom channels require qubit transfer between different wavelengths while preserving quantum coherence and entanglement. Qubit transfer is a nonlinear optical process, but currently the types of atoms used for quantum information processing and storage are limited by the narrow bandwidth of upconversion available. Here we present the first experimental demonstration of broadband and high-efficiency quasi-phase matching second-harmonic generation (SHG) in a chip-scale periodically poled lithium niobate thin film. We achieve a large bandwidth of up to 2 THz for SHG by satisfying quasi-phase matching and group-velocity matching simultaneously. Furthermore, by changing the film thickness, the central wavelength of the quasi-phase matching SHG bandwidth can be modulated from 2.70 μm to 1.44 μm. The reconfigurable quasi-phase matching lithium niobate thin film provides a significant on-chip integrated platform for photonics and quantum optics.

Microcomb generation with simultaneous χ(2) and χ(3) nonlinearities brings new possibilities for ultrabroadband and potentially self-referenced integrated comb sources. However, the evolution of the intracavity field involving multiple nonlinear processes shows complex dynamics that are still poorly understood. Here, we report on strong soliton regulation induced by fundamental–second-harmonic (FD-SH) mode coupling. The formation of solitons from chaos is extensively investigated based on coupled Lugiato–Lefever equations. The soliton generation shows more deterministic behaviors in the presence of FD-SH mode interaction, which is in sharp contrast with the usual cases where the soliton number and relative locations are stochastic. Deterministic single soliton transition, soliton binding, and prohibition are observed, depending on the phase-matching condition and coupling coefficient between the fundamental and second-harmonic waves. Our finding provides important new insights into the soliton dynamics in microcavities with simultaneous χ(2) and χ(3) nonlinearities and can be immediate guidance for broadband soliton comb generation with such platforms.