Broadband operation of a synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator with a spatially dispersed beam

Abstract

We demonstrate the broadband operation of a synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator (SPOPO) with a spatially dispersed beam and a fan-out type MgO-doped periodically poled LiTaO3 (MgO:PPLT). Spatial dispersion was generated using a glass prism placed in the SPOPO cavity. The poling period was designed to match the spatial dispersion and phase matching in MgO:PPLT, and the spectral dispersion in the cavity was compensated for using a fused silica plate, which had a negative dispersion at a signal wavelength of 1500-1600 nm. We succeeded in generating signal pulses with a pulse length of 81 fs, which was approximately 1/5 of the pump pulse length.