Abstract

Optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) are now established as viable sources of broadly tunable radiation for spectral regions inaccessible to lasers from the visible to mid-infrared (mid-IR). Nevertheless, the output signal-idler wavelength pairs generated by an OPO are always constrained to specific combinations by energy conservation and phase-matching. On the other hand, the provision of multiple wavelengths with independent tuning can be of great interest for applications such as CARS and pump-probe spectroscopy, while access to arbitrarily close wavelength pairs near degeneracy, together with high intracavity power and the ability to tune the degenerate wavelength, would be desirable for the generation of widely tunable THz radiation.

© 2013 IEEE