Comparison between difference-frequency generation and parametric fluorescence in quasi-phase-matched lithium niobate stripe waveguides

Tuning curves and gain are two relevant parameters for integrated optical parametric oscillators. We show in this paper that they can be determined with a good precision without building a high-finesse cavity by measurement of the optical parametric fluorescence and difference-frequency generation. In the first part of this paper, we compare theoretically the guided optical parametric fluorescence and the guided difference-frequency generation in the quasi-phase matching configuration. In the second part, we compare experimental results on optical parametric fluorescence in the 1.2-2.2-/spl mu/m region and optical difference-frequency generation from a 1.55-/spl mu/m laser diode using a pump wavelength between 775-795 nm in quasi-phase-matched lithium niobate stripe waveguides. This comparison shows that the gain measured by both methods is identical, but, while parametric fluorescence allows us to obtain the quasi-phase-matching curve, the difference-frequency generation gives a simpler and more accurate measurement of the gain. The combination of these two techniques provides therefore a powerful tool for evaluating the different fabrication processes of the nonlinear waveguides, without actually fabricating a parametric oscillator.