Diode-laser-pumped continuous-wave mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator

TL;DR

This paper presents a mid-infrared continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator pumped by a semiconductor laser, capable of rapid wavelength tuning over 200 nm without adjusting the oscillator settings, due to a strategic pump wavelength choice.

Contribution

It demonstrates a novel tuning method for a singly resonant optical parametric oscillator using a specific pump wavelength to achieve large, fast wavelength tuning in the mid-infrared range.

Findings

Achieved over 200 nm tuning range in mid-infrared CW OPO.

Demonstrated rapid wavelength tuning by scanning pump wavelength.

Utilized group velocity mismatch properties for tuning optimization.

Abstract

We report a singly resonant continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator (SRO), which is pumped by a semiconductor laser system and operates in the mid-infrared region (2.9 to 3.6 {\mu}m). Fast tuning of the mid-infrared output wavelength by more than 200 nm is demonstrated by scanning the pump laser wavelength through only 1.25 nm, without any need to adjust the SRO settings. The exceptionally large tuning range is obtained by choosing a pump wavelength (780 nm) that corresponds to a turning point of the group velocity mismatch between the phase-matched signal and idler waves of the SRO.