Sub-50 fs pulses around 2070 nm from a synchronously-pumped, degenerate OPO

Abstract

We report generation of 48 fs pulses at a center wavelength of 2070 nm using a degenerate optical parametric oscillator (OPO) synchronously-pumped with a commercially available 36-MHz, femtosecond, mode-locked, Yb-doped fiber laser. The spectral bandwidth of the output is ~137 nm, corresponding to a theoretical, transform-limited pulse width of 33 fs. The threshold of the OPO is less than 10 mW of average pump power. By tuning the cavity length, the output spectrum covers a spectral width of more than 400 nm, limited only by the bandwidth of the cavity mirrors.