Two-pump optical parametric devices (OPDs), and methods of operating the
same, generate desired output signals and idlers having reduced
stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) noise levels. When the two-pump OPD is
used as a two-pump optical parametric amplifier (OPA), the pumps are
polarized perpendicular to each other, and the lower-frequency sideband
(signal or idler) is polarized parallel to the lower-frequency pump
(perpendicular to the higher-frequency pump). The desired output may be
an amplified signal or a generated idler. When the two-pump OPD is used
as a two-pump optical frequency converter (OFC), the pumps can be
polarized parallel to one another, in which case the signal and idler are
both perpendicular to the pumps, or perpendicular to one another, in
which case the lower-frequency sideband (signal or idler) is polarized
parallel to the lower-frequency pump (perpendicular to the
higher-frequency pump).