Pseudo-type-II tuning behavior and mode identification in whispering gallery optical parametric oscillators

Wavelength tuning of conventional mirror-based optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) exhibits parabolically-shaped tuning curves (type-0 and type-I phase matching) or tuning branches that cross each other with a finite slope (type-II phase matching). We predict and experimentally prove that whispering gallery OPOs based on type-0 phase matching show both tuning behaviors, depending on whether the mode numbers of the generated waves coincide or differ. We investigate the wavelength tuning of optical parametric oscillation in a millimeter-sized radially-poled lithium niobate disk pumped at 1 mm wavelength generating signal and idler waves between 1.7 and 2.6 mm wavelength. Our experimental findings excellently coincide with the theoretical predictions. The investigated whispering gallery optical parametric oscillator combines the employment of the highest nonlinear-optical coefficient of the material with a controlled type-II-like wavelength tuning and with the possibility of self-phase locking.