High power picosecond parametric mid-IR source tunable between 17 and 26 μm

A high-average-power wavelength-tunable picosecond mid-IR source based on parametric downconversion has been developed. The conversion system consists of two stages, optical parametric generator and optical parametric amplifier (OPA), which are pumped by an Yb:YAG thin-disk laser operated at 77 kHz repetition rate, 1030 nm wavelength, and pulse duration down to 1.3 ps. The signal beam is amplified up to 9.2 W and the idler up to 5.4 W at OPA pumping of 43 W. Tunability between 1.70 and 1.95 μm for the signal and between 2.2 and 2.6 μm for the idler has been achieved. The system is rather simple and power scalable.