SYNCHRONOUSLY PUMPED ALL-SOLID-STATE LITHIUM TRIBORATE OPTICAL PARAMETRIC OSCILLATOR IN A RING CONFIGURATION

A broadly tunable picosecond singly resonant optical parametric oscill ator based on a Brewster-angled crystal of lithium triborate in a ring cavity is described. The optical parametric oscillator is synchronous ly pumped by an all-solid-state frequency-doubled additive-pulse mode- locked Nd:YLF laser pumped by laser diodes. Continuous noncritically p hase-matched tuning is demonstrated from 839 to 1392 nm by use of one set of optics. The oscillator has a threshold of 47 mW of average pump power and, with a pump depletion of 70%, can deliver a tunable output of as high as 88 mW.