Output details
13 - Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials
University of Southampton
High-power, variable repetition rate, picosecond optical parametric oscillator pumped by an amplified gain-switched diode
Significance of output:
Demonstrates the first ultrafast optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a simple gain-switched diode laser, amplified by a chain of Yb-doped fibres. OPOs offer a much broader wavelength tuning range than standard solid-state lasers, including the important mid-infrared molecular fingerprint regime, leading to applications in environmental monitoring and bio-imaging. This compact source also delivers high power, with potential for scaling up to 100W, and high pulse repetition rates (~1GHz) for improved the signal-to-noise in imaging and monitoring systems This paper led directly to an invited presentation at the Rank Prize Fund Symposium on Biophotonics in 2010.
