20-50-fs pulses tunable across the near infrared from a blue-pumped noncollinear parametric amplifier

A two-stage blue-pumped noncollinearly phase matched optical parametric amp lifier was used to generate near-infrared pulses that were continuously tun able from 865 to 1600 nm. The pulse lengths scaled from 20 fs at the shorte r wavelengths to below 50 fs at 1600 nm, with a nearly Fourier-transform-li mited bandwidth. From 200 mu J Of 775-nm pump light at a 1-kHz repetition r ate and a 130-fs duration, 7-2.5-mu J pulse energies were generated, corres ponding to a typical quantum efficiency of 25% from blue to near-infrared l ight. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America. OCIS codes: 320.0320, 190.0190, 320.7080, 190.4970.