Generation of Broadband Near-Infrared (2–2.5 μm) Radiation from an Optical Parametric Amplifier Driven by a Cr:Forsterite Laser Near Dispersion Anomalies of Tuning Curves

Abstract

Pulses with a spectral width of 450 nm at a wavelength of 2.2 μm are generated in a parametric amplifier based on a type-I BBO crystal pumped by the second harmonic (620 nm) of a Cr:forsterite laser. Such a broadband radiation is obtained in a specific regime of the group velocity matching near the vertical region of the tuning curve. The generated pulses can be compressed to a duration of about 2.5 optical cycles (34 fs) in a medium with positive group-velocity dispersion.