High-Efficiency Mid-Infrared Picosecond MgO:PPLN Single Resonant Optical Parametric Oscillator

We demonstrate a high-efficiency mid-infrared picosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on MgO doped periodically poled lithium niobate (MgO:PPLN) with a laser diode array (LDA) pumped Innoslab amplifier as the pumping source. Under a 16 W synchronously pumping power, 4.5 W of idler light at 2896 nm is obtained. A tuning range of idler light from 2688 nm to 3016 nm is achieved, within which the highest optical-optical conversion efficiency from pump power to OPO output is 35.1%. Moreover, a signal light of ～500 mW from 1644 to 1700 nm with a repetition rate of 233.8 MHz is generated.