Abstract

Many time-resolved spectroscopy techniques require two broadly and independently tunable, synchronised light pulses. Recent advances in short pulse laser technology and non-linear crystal materials have lead to rapid development of optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) and travelling wave optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs) capable of meeting these requirements. Our aim was to develop a multi-kilohertz repetition rate OPA system for femtosecond/picosecond, pump and probe time-resolved absorption and resonance Raman spectroscopies. We believe this work reports, for the first time, on synchronously pumped travelling wave OPAs. The design similar to that described in [1] was adopted for the development of the OPAs.

© 1996 IEEE