Abstract

By using a well controlled Er:YLF pump laser, stable operation and low thresholds have been achieved with an AgGaSe₂ optical parametric oscillator. Some previously reported mid IR AgGaSe₂ optical parametric oscillators had displayed a wide variation in the oscillator output energy as a function of the pump energy. As such, only a linear relation between the output energy vs pump energy was fit to the data. In this experiment, very stable operation was achieved. This allowed the nonlinear relation, expected from a model developed to describe the process, to be displayed. Further details on the model and experimental results are presented.

© 1990 Optical Society of America