Abstract

Extending the tuning range of Kerr lens modelocked Ti:sapphire lasers into the visible, ultraviolet and near infrared by using ultrafast optical parametric amplifiers (OPA) is now common. A high power source of sub-picosecond light pulses tunable to longer wavelengths in the midinfrared is attractive for applications in the ultrafast spectroscopy of molecular vibrations and intersubband absorption in semiconductors. In this talk we describe a low energy 800 nm pumped, BBO Type-II infrared OPA and demonstrate the conversion of the output of this OPA through difference frequency generation (DFG) in AgGaS₂ to the midinfrared from 2.4 μm to beyond 12 μm with more than 10mW of power from 3 μm to 6 μm.

© 1996 Optical Society of America