IR laser/OPO systems for biomedical and chemical sensing

The number of laser based biomedical and chemical sensing applications continues to increase. Development and exploitation of many of these applications is limited by the lack of practical laboratory based sources of the required laser radiation. An IR laser/OPO system has been optimized for use in the 5 to 7 /spl mu/m range. This region includes important water, protein and carbonate absorption bands. Output can be extended to 12 /spl mu/m if required. The bench top system operates with a multi-wavelength pump laser, which can be configured to operate in the 2.6 to 3 /spl mu/m region. All three output wavelengths (pump, signal and idler) are available, thus making it suitable for pump-probe experiments. Energy is delivered in single pulses of 50 to 70 ns duration, from 1 to 10 Hz. Depending on the configuration and repetition rate, up to 10 mJ/pulse of signal or idler can be produced.