Parametric transfer in a synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator: toward coherent control

Abstract

Mid-infrared (MIR) ultrashort optical pulses with electronically programmable shapes are a key experimental ingredient in using light to control the outcome of chemical reactions involving molecules whose vibrational energy levels are in the interesting fingerprint region. The limitations of electronically programmable devices for direct shaping of MIR pulses have created an interest in indirect pulse-shaping techniques, i.e. transferring shaped pulses through a nonlinear optical parametric process. Such an approach has been previously demonstrated using a difference-frequency generation (DFG) process [1,2]. Recently, we demonstrated an alternative approach of indirect pulse shaping using a synchronously-pumped optical parametric oscillator (SPOPO) [3], which only requires a single pump source of shaped pulses, and thus avoids the need for another synchronized pulse source.

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ORCID for D.P. Shepherd: orcid.org/0000-0002-4561-8184

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