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Yb-fiber-pumped mid-infrared picosecond optical parametric oscillator tunable across 6.2–6.7 µm

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Abstract

We report a high-average-power picosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) tunable in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) based on CdSiP2 synchronously pumped by an Yb-fiber laser at ~ 80 MHz repetition rate. Successful operation of this high-repetition-rate singly-resonant picosecond OPO has been enabled by the improved CSP crystal quality over a long interaction length. The OPO can be tuned across 1264–1284 nm in the near-IR signal and 6205–6724 nm in the mid-IR idler by temperature tuning the CSP crystal over 39–134 °C. By deploying a 5% output coupler for the resonant signal, we have extracted up to 44 mW of average power in the near-IR and up to 95 mW of non-resonant idler power at 6205 nm at 6.3% total conversion efficiency, with > 50 mW over > 55% of the mid-IR tuning range. We have investigated temperature-tuning characteristics of the OPO and compared the data with the theoretical calculations using the recent Sellmeier and thermo-optic coefficients for CdSiP2. The signal pulses from the OPO exhibit a Gaussian pulse duration of 19 ps centered at 1284 nm. We have also studied the output power stability of the OPO, resulting in a passive stability better than 1.9% rms for the near-IR signal and 2.4% rms for the mid-IR idler, measured over > 17 h, with both beams in high spatial quality.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support from Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (nuOPO, TEC2015-68234-R); European Commission (Horizon 2020 Framework Programme) (Project Mid-Tech, H2020-MSCA-ITN-2014); Generalitat de Catalunya (CERCA Programme); Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2015-0522); Fundació Privada Cellex.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radiantis, Polígono Industrial Camí Ral, 08850, Gavà, Barcelona, Spain

    S. Chaitanya Kumar & M. Ebrahim-Zadeh

  2. ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08860, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain

    S. Chaitanya Kumar, J. Canals Casals, S. Parsa & M. Ebrahim-Zadeh

  3. BAE Systems Incorporated, MER15-1813, P.O. Box 868, Nashua, NH, 03061-0868, USA

    K. T. Zawilski & P. G. Schunemann

  4. Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats (ICREA), Passeig Lluis Companys 23, 08010, Barcelona, Spain

    M. Ebrahim-Zadeh

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  1. S. Chaitanya Kumar
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  2. J. Canals Casals
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  4. K. T. Zawilski
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  5. P. G. Schunemann
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Correspondence to S. Chaitanya Kumar.

Additional information

This article is part of the topical collection “Mid-infrared and THz Laser Sources and Applications” guest edited by Wei Ren, Paolo De Natale and Gerard Wysocki.

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Kumar, S.C., Casals, J.C., Parsa, S. et al. Yb-fiber-pumped mid-infrared picosecond optical parametric oscillator tunable across 6.2–6.7 µm. Appl. Phys. B 124, 100 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-018-6964-3

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