Abstract

Tunable coherent infrared sources are very useful for spectroscopic applications. The LiNbO₃ crystal has been widely used to efficiently yield tunable mid-IR output (2.5 - 4.3 µm) because of its excellent linear and nonlinear optical properties in that wavelength range.¹ However, its applications in nonlinear optics have been restricted by photorefractive damage. This has been greatly improved by doping LiNbO₃ with MgO₂. We report a practical operation of an MgO:LiNbO₃-based difference-frequency generation (DFG) system that can generate mid-IR output tunable from 2.5 µm to 5 µm.

© 1995 Optical Society of America