We report a femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on the nonlinear material ${\mathrm{BiB}}_3{\mathrm{O}}_6$ (BIBO) pumped directly by a Kerr lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser. Using a $1.5\mathrm{mm}$ long BIBO crystal cut at $\theta =11.4°$ for collinear type I ( $e\to o+o$ ) phase matching in the $xz$ optical plane, femtosecond signal pulses across $1.4–1.6\mathrm{\mu m}$ , and idler pulses across $1.6–1.87\mathrm{\mu m}$ spectral range are generated, limited by the reflectivity bandwidth of the OPO mirrors. The high nonlinear gain and large spectral acceptance for type I interaction in the $xz$ plane of BIBO permit rapid and continuous tuning across the entire range by simple fine adjustment of OPO cavity delay or through small changes in the pump wavelength, without varying any other parameters. Additionally, owing to the near-zero group velocity mismatch and dispersion, the OPO supports broad spectrum as wide as $33\mathrm{nm}$ , which results in self-compressed signal pulses. For $150\mathrm{fs}$ pump pulses, signal pulses with durations down to $106\mathrm{fs}$ with a time-bandwidth product of 0.48 are obtained without the need for intracavity dispersion compensation.

© 2011 Optical Society of America

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Citation lists with outbound citation links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Article level metrics are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

Related Journal Articles

• Mercury thiogallate mid-infrared femtosecond optical parametric generator pumped at 1.25 µm by a Cr:forsterite regenerative amplifier (OL)
• Femtosecond parametric generation in ZnGeP₂ (OL)
• Efficient femtosecond traveling-wave optical parametric amplification in periodically poled KTiOPO₄ (OL)
• Efficient, high-repetition-rate, femtosecond optical parametric oscillator tunable in the red (OL)
• Synchronized retroreflection-pumped femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OL)

Related Conference Papers

• Properties and application of the solid solution Cd_xHg_1-xGa₂S₄ as a nonlinear optical crystal
• Optical Parametric Generation of Mid-Infrared Picosecond Pulses Beyond 6 microns in CdSiP2
• Broadband, Rapidly Tunable, BiB3O6 Femtosecond Optical Parametric Oscillator Directly Pumped by a Ti:sapphire
• Broadband, Rapidly Tunable, BiB3O6 Femtosecond Optical Parametric Oscillator Directly Pumped by a Ti:sapphire
• Compact, High-Energy, Picosecond Optical Parametric Oscillator at 450 MHz near 6 micron