High power optical parametric oscillator source

A high average power, optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based system has been developed for the purpose of generating output in the 3-5 /spl mu/m mid-IR band. The system uses a cw diode array-pumped, Nd:YAG master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) as the pump source and two tandem OPOs for wavelength conversion to the mid-IR. A Type II degenerate KTP OPO was used to convert the pump beam to 2.13 /spl mu/m and a Type I near (ZGP) OPO was used to generate broadband radiation in the 3.7-4.1 and 4.4-4.8 /spl mu/m wavelength range.