0.7 MW Yb:YAG pumped degenerate optical parametric oscillator at 2.06 μm

Abstract

Frequency comb spectroscopy and field-resolved broadband absorption spectroscopy are promising techniques for rapid, precise, and sensitive detection of short-lived atmospheric pollutants on-site. Enhancing detection sensitivity in absorption spectroscopy hinges on bright sources that cover molecular resonances and fast signal modulation techniques to implement lock-in detection schemes efficiently. Yb:YAG thin-disk lasers, combined with optical parametric oscillators (OPOs), present a compelling solution to fulfill these requirements. In this work, we report on a bright OPO pumped using a Yb:YAG thin-disk Kerr-lens mode-locked oscillator delivering 2.8 W, 114 fs pulses at 2.06 μm with an averaged energy of 90 nJ. The OPO cavity operates at 30.9 MHz repetition rate—twice the repetition rate of the pump laser—allowing for a broadband, efficient, and dispersion-free modulation of the OPO output pulses at a 15.45 MHz rate. With 13% optical-to-optical conversion efficiency and a high-frequency intra-cavity modulation, this scalable scheme holds promise to advance the detection sensitivity and frontiers of field-resolved spectroscopy.