Tunable femtosecond optical parametric oscillators resonating at 0.65–1.02 µm and 1.07–2.3 µm

Abstract

We present a singly resonant femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) cavity architecture supporting ultra-broadband wavelength tuning and efficient outcoupling of the generated optical pulses. Experimentally, we demonstrate an OPO with its oscillating wavelength tuned over 652–1017 nm and 1075–2289 nm, spanning nearly 1.8 octaves. This is, as far as we know, the widest resonant-wave tuning range obtained from a green-pumped OPO. We show that intracavity dispersion management is crucial for the stationary and single-band operation of such a broadband wavelength tuning system. This architecture is universal, and therefore can be extended to allow the oscillation and ultra-broadband tuning of OPOs at various spectral regions.