Highly efficient broadband mid-infrared generation (2.8-12.5 µm) based on a compact Cr:ZnS laser

Abstract

Broadband coherent infrared radiation has numerous applications in chemical, biological and material science. In particular, the spectral region spanning 2-20 µm is highly sought after for chemical identification [1]. Recently, intra-pulse difference-frequency generation based on 2 µm lasers has emerged as a promising technique for robustly generating broadband coherent mid-infrared radiation [2-5]. It can also provide few-cycle pulses [6] with intrinsic carrier-envelope phase stabilization-critical for time domain and frequency comb applications. Here we present a table-top IDFG system that can simultaneously cover most of the spectral region of interest at hundred-mW-level average power.