Bifurcation suppression for stability

improvement in Nd:YVO4 regenerative amplifier

Mikhail Grishin1,2,*, Vidmantas Gulbinas1
and Andrejus Michailovas1,2
1
Institute of Physics, Savanoriu ave 231, LT-02300, Vilnius, Lithuania
2
EKSPLA uab, Savanoriu ave 231, LT-02300, Vilnius, Lithuania
*m.grishin@ekspla.com

Abstract: Continuously pumped regenerative amplifiers are subject to

energy instability at high pulse repetition rates due to period doubling
bifurcation. Theoretical and experimental data are presented, in order to
differentiate and understand instability effects in Nd:YVO4 regenerative
amplifier, and possible techniques for performance optimization are
analyzed. An increase in the seed pulse energy is demonstrated to improve
amplification dynamics. Addition of a preamplifier is shown as an efficient
way to achieve seed energy high enough to provide stable operation at
repetition rates up to 200 kHz with average output power near the
theoretical limit.
©2009 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: (140.3430) Laser theory; (140.3280) Laser amplifiers; (140.3580) Lasers, solid-
state; (140.7090) Ultrafast lasers.

References and links

1. T. Miura, and S. Ito, “High-energy and high-power Yb:KGW femtosecond regenerative amplifier,” Proc. SPIE
7203, 72030U (2009).
2. D. Nickel, C. Stolzenburg, A. Giesen, and F. Butze, “Ultrafast thin-disk Yb:KY(WO4)2 regenerative amplifier
with a 200-kHz repetition rate,” Opt. Lett. 29(23), 2764–2766 (2004).
3. J. Kleinbauer, D. Eckert, S. Weiler, and D. Sutter, “80 W ultrafast CPA-free disk laser,” Proc. SPIE 6871,
68711B (2008).
4. J. Kleinbauer, R. Knappe, and R. Wallenstein, “A powerful diode-pumped laser source for micro-machining with
ps pulses in the infrared, the visible and the ultraviolet,” Appl. Phys. B 80(3), 315–320 (2005).
5. J. Kleinbauer, R. Knappe, and R. Wallenstein, “13-W picoseconds Nd:GdVO4 regenerative amplifier with 200-
kHz repetition rate,” Appl. Phys. B 81(2-3), 163–166 (2005).
6. J. Dörring, A. Killi, U. Morgner, A. Lang, M. Lederer, and D. Kopf, “Period doubling and deterministic chaos in
continuously pumped regenerative amplifiers,” Opt. Express 12(8), 1759–1768 (2004),
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-12-8-1759.
7. M. Grishin, V. Gulbinas, and A. Michailovas, “Dynamics of high repetition rate regenerative amplifiers,” Opt.
Express 15(15), 9434–9443 (2007), http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-15-15-9434.
8. R. D. Peterson, H. P. Jenssen, and A. Cassanho, “Investigation of the spectroscopic properties of Nd:YVO4,”
Proc. OSA TOPS, Advanced Solid-State Lasers, M.E. Fermann and L.R. Marshall, eds., 68, 294 (2002).

1. Introduction
Regenerative amplifiers (RA) are extensively used for amplification of ultrashort pulses
generated by mode-locked oscillators. Presently this technique enables production of lasers
operating at repetition rates up to hundreds of kilohertz and generating high energy, up to
millijoule level, pulses. Regenerative amplifiers are an important part of most picosecond and
femtosecond industrial solid state laser systems. Both high system efficiency and stable output
parameters over a wide range of pulse repetition rates are essential for this actively developing
field. For creation of power-efficient systems, laser gain media which may be directly pumped
by laser diodes is advantageous. Ytterbium doped materials represent one such family and are
widely used for amplification of femtosecond pulses [1,2]. Furthermore, systems based on
Yb:YAG in thin disk configuration are scalable to high average power [3]. Laser materials
doped with neodymium are well suited for picosecond pulse durations and are competitive for
moderate power. Systems based on Nd:YVO4 and Nd:GdVO4 crystals operate at repetition

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rates up to 200 kHz and produce more than 10 W of output power [4,5]. Long lifetime of the
upper laser level typical of both Nd and Yb ions is an important advantage because it supports
accumulation of substantial population inversion under continuous laser diode pumping.
However, this long inversion lifetime may also cause stability problems at high repetition
rates. Continuously pumped regenerative amplifiers demonstrate peculiar pulse amplification
dynamics when the pulse repetition period becomes comparable or shorter than the gain
relaxation time. Period doubling bifurcations develop generating alternating energy pulses or
even sequences of pulses having chaotic energy distribution.
To date, only a few articles have been dedicated to this phenomenon despite its critical
influence on the performance of regenerative amplifiers. Complicated dynamic behavior has
been observed for a system based on Ytterbium doped glass, and the role of period doubling
has been investigated both theoretically and experimentally [6]. However, one of the
important parameters, the seed pulse energy, was left beyond the scope. The experiments were
confined to studying cavity dumping of the Q-switched laser, an approximately equivalent to
the RA seeded by extremely low pulse energy. Our recent theoretical analysis of RA operation
revealed the importance of the seed energy and demonstrated that increase in the seed energy
helps in eliminating the instabilities [7]. In the present paper we experimentally verify
effectiveness of this approach of stability improvement for the Nd:YVO 4 regenerative
amplifier.
This paper begins by describing the experimental setup and presenting results
demonstrating peculiar behavior of the RA seeded by a conventional mode-locked laser of
moderate power. Then, using numerical modeling, we consider stability problems of
regenerative amplification and possible solutions. System performance improvement achieved
by utilization of a preamplifier is presented and discussed in the next section. We conclude the
paper by summarizing experimental and theoretical results.
2. Regenerative amplifier seeded with moderate energy pulses. Stability problems
The schematic diagram of the experimental setup used for investigation of regenerative
amplification is shown in Fig. 1.
Regenerative amplifier
Wave
Fiber Lens Nd:YVO4 plate Pockels
terminal Polarizer cell
crystal

Source of seed pulses Faraday

rotator
Pulse picker
Wave plate

Master oscillator Polarizer

Output

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the experimental setup.

A diode pumped passively mode locked Nd:YVO4 laser was used as a master oscillator. It
generated a continuous pulse train with repetition frequency of 82 MHz and average power of
300 mW. The laser was able to produce optical pulses with duration as short as 6 ps. The short
pulses were used in experiments where dynamics peculiar to high peak intensities were of
interest. However, most of the amplification investigations were focused on the “pure”
dynamics not disturbed by optical nonlinearities. These experiments were carried out with 58
ps duration pulses obtained by installing an etalon in the oscillator cavity (the etalon narrows
the bandwidth, thus widening the pulse duration).

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 A pulse picker was used to select pulses for further amplification and in this way to
control the effective repetition frequency of the seed source. The pulse picker was an electro-
optical switch based on the RTP Pockels cell. In the initial experiments optical pulses selected
by the pulse picker were directed to the regenerative amplifier. The seed pulse energy was 3.2
nJ at the input of RA.
The regenerative amplifier was comprised of an optical resonator containing the gain
medium (Nd:YVO4 crystals) and an electro-optical switch for control of the resonator quality.
The laser crystal was continuously pumped by the fiber coupled laser diode module with fiber
core diameter of 400 µm and numerical aperture of 0.22. Optimal pump power, providing
maximum output in TEM00 mode, was set to be 44 W. The electro-optical switch consisted of
a BBO Pockels cell, a quarter-wave plate and a thin-film polarizer.
Operation of a regenerative amplifier in general may be regarded as a succession of
operation cycles consisting of a pump stage and an amplification stage. During the pump
stage, before voltage is applied to the Pockels cell, laser action is suppressed by high resonator
losses and the gain medium accumulates population inversion. The amplification stage starts
when the seed pulse is injected into the resonator and the quarter-wave voltage is applied to
the Pockels cell. The intracavity losses become minimal and are kept low for some preset time
while the optical pulse circulating in the resonator is amplifying. As soon as the intracavity
energy reaches a desired level the Pockels cell voltage is switched off. This dumps the
amplified pulse out of the cavity counter-propagating to the seed pulse input. The output
radiation is diverted from the input signal path by a circuit containing the Faraday rotator,
half-wave plate and polarizer.

Fig. 2. Screenshots of typical regimes of RA operation. Stable energy output is obtained at 90

kHz for NRT = 14 (a) and the period doubling regime is obtained at 90 kHz for NRT = 16 (b).

The total multi-pass gain of RA depends on the number of cavity round trips (NRT) which
is determined by the amplification-stage duration. This important parameter is easily
controlled by setting the time interval during which the high voltage is applied to the Pockels
cell. Selection of proper NRT is a routine procedure for optimization of the RA. During the
amplification stage, the intracavity pulse energy grows until the gain becomes equal to the
resonator losses and then the pulse energy decays. The optimal NRT corresponds to the
optical pulse dumping at the moment when its energy has reached the peak value. However,
such a simple approach works well for low repetition rates only. At higher repetition rates,
when the pump stage is comparable or shorter than the gain relaxation time, the operation
cycles become interdependent. The equilibrium between population inversion depletion
caused by amplification and inversion restoring caused by pumping may become unstable.
This often leads to violation of the single-energy regime and to generation of periodically
alternating high/low energy pulses, or more complicated instability patterns [7]. As an
illustration, Fig. 2 shows oscilloscope screen shots of the RA output pulse train in typical
single-energy and period doubling regimes. Since energy bifurcation is unacceptable for most
laser applications, optimal operation implies not only the highest output power but also a
single-energy regime. It is natural to define the corresponding number of round trips as
optimal. At high repetition rates the dependence of output parameters on NRT is more
complicated, and therefore system optimization becomes more complicated. Experimentally

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obtained diagrams of the RA average output power and pulse energy versus NRT
demonstrating these peculiarities are presented in Fig. 3. The specific dumping frequencies
were chosen to describe the most relevant cases of RA behavior. The single-peaked
dependence inherent to low repetition rates appears at 10 kHz [Fig. 3(a)]. The average power
and the pulse energy reach the maximum values simultaneously, when NRT is equal to ten. At
20 kHz the situation is different [Fig. 3(b)]. The shape of the energy curve shows that the
system undergoes bifurcation in the 9–13 NRT range. However, in this case the period
doubling does not affect the system performance because the output power reaches its
maximum value in a single-energy regime.

Fig. 3. Experimental average power (black and red dots correspond to stable and unstable
regimes respectively) and pulse energy (blue dots) versus number of cavity round trips for the
repetition rates of 10 kHz, 20 kHz, 75 kHz and 90 kHz. The encircled points correspond to the
maximum power at stable operation.

Instability effects become more pronounced at higher pulse repetition rates. The period
doubling not only breaks the energy stability but also distorts the curve of the average power.
This curve now has two explicit peaks [Figs. 3(c) and 3(d)]. The first peak, corresponding to
the maximum power, is located in a period doubling zone, whereas the second one is just over
the instability edge. The optimal regime is obtained in the vicinity of the bifurcation point. At
75 kHz the optimal NRT is equal to 48. This point is close to the second power peak, on the
right side of the period doubling zone [Fig. 3(c)]. For 90 kHz repetition rate the optimal NRT
is equal to 13 and is situated right before the first bifurcation point [Fig. 3(d)]. The
experimentally observed problems at high repetition rates are the following: (i) the output
energy exhibits unacceptable fluctuations when the RA generates the highest average power,
(ii) the highest stable pulse energy is reached close to the instability edge.
3. Theoretical analysis of system operation and improvement possibilities
One may expect that it is possible to improve RA behavior by selecting more appropriate
parameters governing the system. We leave out of the scope optimization the pump

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characteristics and the geometry of the optical resonator allowing more power in TEM 00
mode, as this does not relate directly to the RA dynamics. The parasitic intracavity losses,
although formally a governing parameter, are also not analyzed. They should be simply
reduced as much as technically possible. Our goal is to maximize extraction of the given
stored population inversion as a stable train of output pulses. The experiments described in the
previous section demonstrate that variation of only NRT does not solve the stability problem.
So, we proceeded to investigate what advantages increasing the seed energy can give. For this
purpose we numerically evaluated the influence of the pulse repetition rate and NRT on the
system operation for three seed pulse energies differing by about two orders of magnitude.
These particular energies and the remaining fixed parameters were chosen so that they
corresponded to the conditions of the experiment. They are summarized in Table 1.
Table 1. Parameters used for regenerative amplifier modeling

Parameter Value
Wavelength 1064 nm
19
Emission cross section 11.4 × 10 cm2
Gain relaxation time 83 µs
Effective mode diameter in the laser 1 mm
rod
Steady state small signal gain 2.94
Seed pulse energies 11 pJ (low); 1.1 nJ (medium); 240nJ
(high)
Intracavity losses 0.03

The steady state small signal gain, determined by the pump intensity, was measured
directly. The parasitic intracavity losses were derived from the specifications of the optical
components. The Nd:YVO4 crystal properties necessary for modeling (emission cross section
and gain relaxation time) were taken from [8].
The modeling approach was described in detail in our previous paper [7]. The optical
pulse evolution within a single RA operation cycle was analyzed in the approximation of rate
equations. The discrete-time dynamical system approach was applied for consideration of the
interference of successive cycles and for evaluating stability of operation points. The
corresponding data are mapped in the space of control parameters – NRT and the repetition
rate [Fig. 4(a)]. This space is split into two parts; a zone of stable operation and an instability
zone of period doubling. The curve separating those zones (further referred as separatrix)
represents a manifold of bifurcation points in the parameter space. The instability zone
occupies the right upper part of the plot. This region shrinks as the seed energy increases.
It is important to evaluate not only the stability at some given control parameters
(operation points) but also the corresponding output power. The dynamics of regenerative
amplification and output characteristics of the system are determined by the set of control
parameters alone [7] in contrast to e.g. bi-stability effects where initial conditions may also
influence the operation. Therefore, we can theoretically determine the highest obtainable
average power assuming the absence of period doubling. The calculations show that this
power is invariant under the seed energy provided that other governing parameters are fixed.
Achieving the calculated maximum average power implies the best possible utilization of the
stored pump energy, i.e. it assures the highest power efficiency. The diagram of theoretically
achievable power versus repetition rate will be given in the next section for comparison with
the experimental data. Now we can consider the manifold of points in the parameter space
where this power is achieved. The corresponding NRT providing the highest output power
(NRTMAX) was calculated under the same assumption of maintaining stability. However, in
contrast to the maximum power itself, the NRT MAX is dependent on the seed pulse energy. The
parameter separatrix together with the curve of NRTMAX represent stability diagram of the RA
operation [Fig. 4(a)]. The approach of stability diagrams forms a more systematic concept of

#114016 - $15.00 USD Received 8 Jul 2009; revised 12 Aug 2009; accepted 12 Aug 2009; published 20 Aug 2009
(C) 2009 OSA 31 August 2009 / Vol. 17, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 15704
the system optimization and specifically allows estimation of the seed level which may enable
one to avoid instability effects, and so reach the theoretically possible average power.

Fig. 4. (a) Parameter separatrixes (solid lines) and curves of NRT MAX (dotted lines) in space of
parameters. Black, red and green lines correspond to seed pulse energies of 240 nJ, 1.1 nJ and
11 pJ, respectively. (b) Operating point trajectories (vertical dashed lines) and measured
number of optimal round trips for the pulse durations of 58 ps (solid circles) and 9 ps (open
circles) in respect to stability diagram for the seed energy of 1.1 nJ.

The system capabilities are completely exploited when the operation is stable at NRT
providing the highest output power. This condition is realized when the curve of NRT MAX is
outside the instability region. At low seed energy of 11 pJ the appropriate repetition rates
should be less than 20 kHz. For the medium seed level of 1.1 nJ this range increases to 25
kHz. At higher repetition rates the NRT MAX curve enters the instability zone. Consequently,
the optimal NRT can be obtained at the stability edge, either on the upper or lower branch of
the separatrix.
Now we can understand the relevant cases of system behavior, presented in previous
section and corresponding to the medium seed value, by using stability diagrams. The
trajectories of the operating points corresponding to NRT variation at a constant repetition rate
are presented in Fig. 4(b). This trajectory at 10 kHz does not pass the instability zone. At 20
kHz the optimal operating point is above the instability zone. At both 75 kHz and 90 kHz the
optimal NRT is on the stability edge and is rather far from the point of the highest attainable
power. These results are in good agreement with the experimental data.
An important consequence of the numerical simulation is that for 240 nJ or higher seed
energies the NRTMAX curve does not enter the instability zone in the whole range of repetition
rates. So, for our laser system we have found a seed value sufficient to eliminate negative
features of amplification dynamics, and thus to completely exploit the system capabilities.
4. Regenerative amplifier operation with pre-amplified seed
Application of a more powerful master oscillator and/or decrease of the pulse repetition
frequency by making the laser cavity longer are the straightforward ways to achieve higher
seed energy. We omit challenging approaches such as mode-locked lasers with an extra-long
optical resonator or with cavity dumping. Simple estimations show that in order to provide
240 nJ pulses the master oscillator operating in a CW mode locking regime with a reasonable
repetition frequency of 50 MHz should generate average power of 12 W. On the other hand
the useful part of this power is much lower, e.g. only 48 mW even operating at 200 kHz.
As an alternative of such a prodigal approach a double pass Nd:YVO4 preamplifier
installed behind the pulse picker was used. High emission cross section of the Nd:YVO 4
crystal and operation at relatively low input average power make this system efficient. Only 2

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W of pumping was sufficient to achieve a gain coefficient of more than two orders of
magnitude. The pulse energy at the input of the RA was 3.2 nJ when the preamplifier was
disabled. The energy of the pre-amplified pulse reached 1.1 µJ at 10 kHz and steadily
decreased with the repetition rate to 370 nJ at 200 kHz. In the most critical point at 68 kHz
[see Fig. 4(a)] the measured seed energy was 700 nJ, well above the calculated value that
ensures stable operation. Such an excess seed level was helpful, because the seed energy was
not completely exploited. In general, it is difficult to avoid mode mismatching between a seed
laser and optical cavity of the RA in both spatial and spectral domains. Spectral mismatching
can exist even with identical gain media because of e.g. different temperatures of laser
crystals of the master oscillator and RA. Mode mismatching reduces the effective seed energy.
For our system we estimated the effective seed values to be about three times less than the
measured ones. This was taken into account so that the seed values chosen for calculations
(listed in Tab. 1) corresponded to those used in the experiments: pre-amplified seed,
unamplified seed and attenuated seed. This set of RA input signals covers the functionally
important range. The value of the unamplified seed, 3.2 nJ, is of the same order of magnitude
as the pulse energy of commonly used moderate power solid-state picosecond lasers.
Operation with the seed energy intentionally attenuated to 32 pJ provides opportunity to
evaluate typical behavior of the RA seeded with potentially attractive low power sources, e.g.
with ultrafast laser diodes, which would substantially reduce system size and complexity.

Fig. 5. Experimental output power versus repetition rate for the pulse durations of 58 ps (a) and
9 ps (b). Black, red and green dots correspond to measured seed pulse energies of 700 nJ, 3.2
nJ and 32 pJ, respectively. Theoretical curve of achievable power is solid line in both diagrams.

Experimental dependences of the RA average output power versus repetition rate for these
values of seed energy are presented in Fig. 5(a). The measurements were performed at the
optimal round trip number. The NRT was set for maximum average power while maintaining
stable operating regime for every repetition rate. The operation was considered stable when
the standard deviation of the pulse energy did not exceed 1%. The output is virtually
independent of the seed level for low repetition rates. However, at higher rates there is a drop
in power for low and medium seed levels. The most significant power decrease appears in the
80–95 kHz range, then the output power steadily grows as the repetition rate increases.
This non-monotonic behavior of the power curve can be explained by considering the
evolution of the operating point in the parameter space. As an example, we examined the
medium seed case [Fig. 4(b)]. The operating points coincide with the theoretical curve of
NRTMAX until the latter enters into the instability zone (at 25 kHz). Then there are two
possible trajectories of the operating point – the upper and lower branches of the separatrix.
Up to 80 kHz the upper branch has an advantage by providing a higher output energy [optimal
NRT position is similar to Fig. 2(c)]. However as the repetition rate increases the stable
operating point moves further away from the NRT MAX position, resulting in lower output
energy. Consequently, starting from 85 kHz the optimal NRT switches to the lower border of
the instability region [typical example is Fig. 2(d)]. In this regime the operating point

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gradually comes closer to the NRT MAX position, and consequently the output power steadily
increases with increasing repetition rate.
The power curve obtained with the preamplifier has no signs of downward excursion. This
seed energy is sufficient to maintain stable operation at maximum power. Generally these
experimental data are in good agreement with the theoretical curve of the available power.
Some deviations observed at low repetition rates, we suppose, are caused by the Kerr effect.
This nonlinearity can act as additional intensity-dependent intracavity losses. The Kerr effect
requires higher pulse energies, and accordingly its influence is more pronounced at lower
repetition rates. Spectrum broadening of the output pulse is evidence of the Kerr effect. We
measured optical spectrum transforming from 0.05 nm at repetition rates above 40 kHz up to
0.15 nm at 10 kHz, thus implicating the Kerr effect for deviations at low repetition rates.
We also compared performances of the RA seeded by high and medium pulse energy for
the functionally important case of shorter optical pulses. Typically about 9 ps pulse duration
was obtained at the output of the RA seeded by the 6 ps pulse. This duration is close to the
minimum value supported by the gain bandwidth of the Nd:YVO4 crystal in high total-gain
applications such as regenerative amplification. The measurements were constrained to
dumping rates above 50 kHz. Nevertheless, the intensities were substantial, and the Kerr
effect influence was so strong that it eventually resulted in decrease of the output power [Fig.
5(b)]. The average power obtained with the pre-amplified seed was slightly lower than that
theoretically predicted below 80 kHz and the difference reached 6.7% at 50 kHz. However,
the comparison of these characteristics with those obtained at a medium seed level shows that
the benefit of the preamplifier is even more pronounced in case of shorter pulses. The
difference is related to a large decrease of the average power below 85 kHz for the case of the
medium seed. This phenomenon can be explained by returning again to stability diagrams.
The optimal operating points for the short pulse experiments were always settled along the
lower branch of the parameter separatrix [Fig. 4(b)]. This regime gave a significantly lower
output power than that obtained with the 58 ps pulse duration (obtained at the upper branch).
However, attempts to operate at the upper branch (optimum for long pulses) resulted in an
even larger decrease of the output. In order to understand this difference we estimated the B
integral, the conventional quantitative gauge of the Kerr effect. The B integral calculated at 50
kHz repetition rate gave values of 1.3 (acceptable) and 7.6 (problematic) at transition from
low to upper separatrix branch respectively. The reason for so large B integral value in the
latter case is that operation behind the peak of power at larger NRT implies multiple round
trips for the high intensity optical pulse. Consequently, the Kerr effect influence increases
which eventually makes this regime highly inefficient. The high seed energy gives additional
advantage at shorter pulses due to a significantly lower value of the optimal NRT.
5. Conclusion
Performance of diode pumped solid state regenerative amplifiers is essentially limited by
instabilities inherent at high repetition rates. These limitations strongly depend on the seed
pulse energy. A substantial shortfall of the average power in respect of theoretical limits has
been observed for the Nd:YVO4 amplifier seeded by nanojoule-level pulse energy at repetition
rates exceeding 40 kHz. This was caused by unacceptable energy fluctuations in regimes,
which potentially could provide the highest average power. Furthermore, the maximum of
stable energy was reached at the border between stable and unstable regimes. In general,
operation at the margin of stability incurs challenges for robust operation in real systems.
Even slight changes to control parameters may result in system instability. Therefore reliably
stable operation generally requires setting the operating parameters well away from the
instability border, but this in turn leads to a further reduction of the laser output power.
An increase in the seed pulse energy improves the amplifier operation by avoiding
bifurcation of the output pulse energy. Moreover, when the seed energy is high enough the
system performance can reach levels determined theoretically on an assumption of absence of
instabilities. Utilization of a preamplifier is a simple and efficient way to obtain the required
seed level. The performance of Nd:YVO4 based RA seeded by pre-amplified pulses has

#114016 - $15.00 USD Received 8 Jul 2009; revised 12 Aug 2009; accepted 12 Aug 2009; published 20 Aug 2009
(C) 2009 OSA 31 August 2009 / Vol. 17, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 15707
demonstrated that the system capabilities are thoroughly exploited. The average power
reached the theoretically possible value and good energy stability was maintained. This
approach can be useful for creating regenerative amplifiers with improved robustness,
stability, and wall-plug efficiency, thoroughly utilizing the potential performance of the
systems.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the technical assistance of Juozas Verseckas from EKSPLA
UAB in preparation of the experimental setup and Lucian Hand from Altos Photonics Inc. for
fruitful discussions of the manuscript. This work was partially financed by the Eurostars
Project E!4335-UPLIT.

#114016 - $15.00 USD Received 8 Jul 2009; revised 12 Aug 2009; accepted 12 Aug 2009; published 20 Aug 2009
(C) 2009 OSA 31 August 2009 / Vol. 17, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 15708