title: Octave-spanning ultrafast OPO with 2.6-6.1 µm instantaneous bandwidth pumped by femtosecond Tm-fiber laser.
abstract: We report the extension of broadband degenerate OPO operation further into mid-infrared. A femtosecond thulium fiber laser with output centered at 2050 nm synchronously pumps a 500-μm-long crystal of orientation patterned GaAs providing broadband gain centered at 4.1 µm. We observe a pump threshold of 17 mW and output bandwidth extending from 2.6 to 6.1 µm at the -30 dB level. Average output power was 37 mW. Appropriate resonator group dispersion is a key factor for achieving degenerate operation with instantaneously broad bandwidth. The output spectrum is very sensitive to absorption and dispersion introduced by molecular species inside the OPO cavity.
authors.affiliation: E.L. Ginzton Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford California 94305, USA. nick.leindecker@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Leindecker
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marandi
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Byer
authors.forename: Konstantin L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Vodopyanov
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Ingmar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hartl
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fermann
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Schunemann
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State