Practical mid-infrared picosecond optical parametric oscillator for the 4-6 /spl mu/m spectral range

Summary form only given. Tunable picosecond pulses in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) are of interest for time-resolved spectroscopy of narrow-bandgap semiconductors and the optical parametric oscillator (OPO) is an attractive source for the generation of such pulses. In the domain of commonly available, low to moderate power laser sources, the most viable material candidates for mid-IR pulse generation at present are periodically-poled LiNbO/sub 3/ (PPLN), and the arsenate isomorphs of KTP such as PPRTA and PPKTA. The large nonlinearity of these materials combined with noncritical phase-matching and a transparency range extending beyond 5 /spl mu/m allows the development of practical picosecond OPOs using widely available mode-locked Ti:sapphire (Ti:S) and Nd-based lasers. We describe an all-solid-state picosecond OPO based on PPLN that is synchronously-pumped by a Ti:S laser.