Millijoule-level picosecond mid-infrared optical parametric amplifier based on MgO-doped periodically poled lithium niobate.

A millijoule-level high pulse energy picosecond (ps) mid-infrared (MIR) optical parametric amplifier (OPA) at 3.9 mu m based on large-aperture MgO-doped periodically poled lithium niobate (MgO:PPLN) crystal was demonstrated for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The MIR OPA was pumped by a 30 ps 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser at 10 Hz and injected by an energy-adjustable near-infrared seed based on a barium boron oxide (BBO) optical parametric generator/optical parametric amplifier (OPG/OPA) with double-pass geometry. Output energy of 1.14 mJ at 3.9 mu m has been obtained at pump energy of 15.2 mJ. Furthermore, the performance of MIR OPG in MgO:PPLN was also investigated for comparing with the seeded OPA. (c) 2015 Optical Society of America