We conducted a numerical study on the excitation of a two-colored temporal soliton in a segmented quasi-phase-matching (QPM) structure. The device has three parts: a periodic QPM grating for second-harmonic generation, a single domain for phase shift, and a periodic QPM grating for soliton evolution. The second harmonic pulse generated in the first grating works as a seed in the cascaded up-and-down conversions in the second grating. The numerical results showed that the second harmonic seeding enables the excitation of soliton pulses with an improved spatio-temporal intensity profile in a broad bandwidth of the wave-vector mismatch.

© 2009 OSA

1. G. I. Stegeman, D. J. Hagan, and L. Torner, “? (2) Cascading Phenomena and Their Applications to All-Optical Signal Processing, Mode-Locking, Pulse Compression and Solitons,” J. Opt. Quant. Electron. 28(12), 1691–1740 (1996). [CrossRef]
2. F. W. Wise, L. Qian, and X. Liu, “Applications of cascaded quadratic nonlinearities to femtosecond pulse generation,” J. Nonlinear Opt. Phys. Mater. 11(3), 317–338 (2002). [CrossRef]
3. X. Liu, L. J. Qian, and F. Wise, “High-energy pulse compression by use of negative phase shifts produced by the cascade ?((2)):?((2)) nonlinearity,” Opt. Lett. 24(23), 1777–1779 (1999). [CrossRef]
4. S. Ashihara, J. Nishina, T. Shimura, and K. Kuroda, “Soliton compression of femtosecond pulses in quadratic media,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 19(10), 2505–2510 (2002). [CrossRef]
5. J. Moses and F. W. Wise, “Soliton compression in quadratic media: high-energy few-cycle pulses with a frequency-doubling crystal,” Opt. Lett. 31(12), 1881–1883 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
6. J. Moses, E. Alhammali, J. M. Eichenholz, and F. W. Wise, “Efficient high-energy femtosecond pulse compression in quadratic media with flattop beams,” Opt. Lett. 32(17), 2469–2471 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
7. M. Bache, J. Moses, and F. W. Wise, “Scaling laws for soliton pulse compression by cascaded quadratic nonlinearities,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 24(10), 2752–2762 (2007). [CrossRef]
8. C. Menyuk, R. Schiek, and L. Torner, “Solitary waves due to ?(2):?(2) cascading,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 11(12), 2434–2443 (1994). [CrossRef]
9. P. Di Trapani, D. Caironi, G. Valiulis, D. Danielius, and A. Piskarskas, “Observation of temporal solitons in second-harmonic generation with tilted pulses,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 81(3), 570–573 (1998). [CrossRef]
10. X. Liu, L. J. Qian, and F. W. Wise, “Generation of optical spatiotemporal solitons,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 82(23), 4631–4634 (1999). [CrossRef]
11. N. E. Yu, J. H. Ro, M. Cha, S. Kurimura, and T. Taira, “Broadband quasi-phase-matched second-harmonic generation in MgO-doped periodically poled LiNbO_3 at the communications band,” Opt. Lett. 27(12), 1046–1048 (2002). [CrossRef]
12. S. Ashihara, T. Shimura, and K. Kuroda, “Group-velocity matched second-harmonic generation in tilted quasi-phase-matched gratings,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 20(5), 853–856 (2003). [CrossRef]
13. S. Ashihara, T. Shimura, K. Kuroda, N. E. Yu, S. Kurimura, K. Kitamura, M. Cha, and T. Taira, “Optical pulse compression using cascaded quadratic nonlinearities in periodically poled lithium niobate,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 84(7), 1055–1057 (2004). [CrossRef]
14. X. L. Zeng, S. Ashihara, N. Fujioka, T. Shimura, and K. Kuroda, “Adiabatic compression of quadratic temporal solitons in aperiodic quasi-phase-matching gratings,” Opt. Express 14(20), 9358–9370 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
15. X. Zeng, S. Ashihara, X. Chen, T. Shimura, and K. Kuroda, “Two-color pulse compression in aperiodically poled lithium niobate,” Opt. Commun. 281(17), 4499–4503 (2008). [CrossRef]
16. L. Torner, C. Balslev Clausen, and M. M. Fejer, “Adiabatic shaping of quadratic solitons,” Opt. Lett. 23(12), 903–905 (1998). [CrossRef]
17. W. E. Torruellas, Z. Wang, D. J. Hagan, E. W. VanStryland, G. I. Stegeman, L. Torner, and C. R. Menyuk, “Observation of two-dimensional spatial solitary waves in a quadratic medium,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 74(25), 5036–5039 (1995). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
18. S. Polyakov, H. Kim, L. Jankovic, G. Stegeman, and M. Katz, “Weak beam control of multiple quadratic soliton generation,” Opt. Lett. 28(16), 1451–1453 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
19. S. Carrasco, L. Torner, J. P. Torres, D. Artigas, E. Lopez-Lago, V. Couderc, and A. Barthelemy, “Quadratic Solitons: Existence Versus Excitation,” IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. 8(3), 497–505 (2002). [CrossRef]
20. P. Di Trapani, G. Valiulis, A. Piskarskas, O. Jedrkiewicz, J. Trull, C. Conti, and S. Trillo, “Spontaneously generated X-shaped light bullets,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 91(9), 093904 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
21. D. Zelmon, D. Small, and D. Jundt, “Infrared corrected Sellmeier coefficients for congruently grown lithium niobate and 5 mol. magnesium oxide doped lithium niobate,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 14(12), 3319–3322 (1997). [CrossRef]
22. I. Shoji, T. Kondo, A. Kitamoto, M. Shirane, and R. Ito, “Absolute scale of second-order nonlinear-optical coefficients,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 14(9), 2268–2294 (1997). [CrossRef]
23. R. DeSalvo, A. A. Said, D. J. Hagan, E. W. Stryland, and M. Sheik-Bahae, “Infrared to ultraviolet measurements of two-photon absorption and n2 in wide bandgap solids,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 32(8), 1324–1333 (1996). [CrossRef]

Appl. Phys. Lett.

• S. Ashihara, T. Shimura, K. Kuroda, N. E. Yu, S. Kurimura, K. Kitamura, M. Cha, and T. Taira, “Optical pulse compression using cascaded quadratic nonlinearities in periodically poled lithium niobate,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 84(7), 1055–1057 (2004). [CrossRef]

IEEE J. Quantum Electron.

• R. DeSalvo, A. A. Said, D. J. Hagan, E. W. Stryland, and M. Sheik-Bahae, “Infrared to ultraviolet measurements of two-photon absorption and n2 in wide bandgap solids,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 32(8), 1324–1333 (1996). [CrossRef]

IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron.

• S. Carrasco, L. Torner, J. P. Torres, D. Artigas, E. Lopez-Lago, V. Couderc, and A. Barthelemy, “Quadratic Solitons: Existence Versus Excitation,” IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. 8(3), 497–505 (2002). [CrossRef]

J. Nonlinear Opt. Phys. Mater.

• F. W. Wise, L. Qian, and X. Liu, “Applications of cascaded quadratic nonlinearities to femtosecond pulse generation,” J. Nonlinear Opt. Phys. Mater. 11(3), 317–338 (2002). [CrossRef]

J. Opt. Quant. Electron.

• G. I. Stegeman, D. J. Hagan, and L. Torner, “? (2) Cascading Phenomena and Their Applications to All-Optical Signal Processing, Mode-Locking, Pulse Compression and Solitons,” J. Opt. Quant. Electron. 28(12), 1691–1740 (1996). [CrossRef]

J. Opt. Soc. Am. B

• S. Ashihara, T. Shimura, and K. Kuroda, “Group-velocity matched second-harmonic generation in tilted quasi-phase-matched gratings,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 20(5), 853–856 (2003). [CrossRef]
• S. Ashihara, J. Nishina, T. Shimura, and K. Kuroda, “Soliton compression of femtosecond pulses in quadratic media,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 19(10), 2505–2510 (2002). [CrossRef]
• M. Bache, J. Moses, and F. W. Wise, “Scaling laws for soliton pulse compression by cascaded quadratic nonlinearities,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 24(10), 2752–2762 (2007). [CrossRef]
• C. Menyuk, R. Schiek, and L. Torner, “Solitary waves due to ?(2):?(2) cascading,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 11(12), 2434–2443 (1994). [CrossRef]
• D. Zelmon, D. Small, and D. Jundt, “Infrared corrected Sellmeier coefficients for congruently grown lithium niobate and 5 mol. magnesium oxide doped lithium niobate,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 14(12), 3319–3322 (1997). [CrossRef]
• I. Shoji, T. Kondo, A. Kitamoto, M. Shirane, and R. Ito, “Absolute scale of second-order nonlinear-optical coefficients,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 14(9), 2268–2294 (1997). [CrossRef]

Opt. Commun.

• X. Zeng, S. Ashihara, X. Chen, T. Shimura, and K. Kuroda, “Two-color pulse compression in aperiodically poled lithium niobate,” Opt. Commun. 281(17), 4499–4503 (2008). [CrossRef]

Opt. Express

• X. L. Zeng, S. Ashihara, N. Fujioka, T. Shimura, and K. Kuroda, “Adiabatic compression of quadratic temporal solitons in aperiodic quasi-phase-matching gratings,” Opt. Express 14(20), 9358–9370 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Opt. Lett.

• N. E. Yu, J. H. Ro, M. Cha, S. Kurimura, and T. Taira, “Broadband quasi-phase-matched second-harmonic generation in MgO-doped periodically poled LiNbO_3 at the communications band,” Opt. Lett. 27(12), 1046–1048 (2002). [CrossRef]
• L. Torner, C. Balslev Clausen, and M. M. Fejer, “Adiabatic shaping of quadratic solitons,” Opt. Lett. 23(12), 903–905 (1998). [CrossRef]
• S. Polyakov, H. Kim, L. Jankovic, G. Stegeman, and M. Katz, “Weak beam control of multiple quadratic soliton generation,” Opt. Lett. 28(16), 1451–1453 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• J. Moses and F. W. Wise, “Soliton compression in quadratic media: high-energy few-cycle pulses with a frequency-doubling crystal,” Opt. Lett. 31(12), 1881–1883 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• J. Moses, E. Alhammali, J. M. Eichenholz, and F. W. Wise, “Efficient high-energy femtosecond pulse compression in quadratic media with flattop beams,” Opt. Lett. 32(17), 2469–2471 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• X. Liu, L. J. Qian, and F. Wise, “High-energy pulse compression by use of negative phase shifts produced by the cascade ?((2)):?((2)) nonlinearity,” Opt. Lett. 24(23), 1777–1779 (1999). [CrossRef]

Phys. Rev. Lett.

• P. Di Trapani, D. Caironi, G. Valiulis, D. Danielius, and A. Piskarskas, “Observation of temporal solitons in second-harmonic generation with tilted pulses,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 81(3), 570–573 (1998). [CrossRef]
• X. Liu, L. J. Qian, and F. W. Wise, “Generation of optical spatiotemporal solitons,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 82(23), 4631–4634 (1999). [CrossRef]
• W. E. Torruellas, Z. Wang, D. J. Hagan, E. W. VanStryland, G. I. Stegeman, L. Torner, and C. R. Menyuk, “Observation of two-dimensional spatial solitary waves in a quadratic medium,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 74(25), 5036–5039 (1995). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• P. Di Trapani, G. Valiulis, A. Piskarskas, O. Jedrkiewicz, J. Trull, C. Conti, and S. Trillo, “Spontaneously generated X-shaped light bullets,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 91(9), 093904 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

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