Few-optical-cycle pulses in the near-infrared from a noncollinear optical parametric amplifier

Opt Lett. 2007 Aug 15;32(16):2396-8. doi: 10.1364/ol.32.002396.

Abstract

We extend the concept of broadband phase matching in a noncollinear optical parametric amplifier (NOPA) to the near-IR. In an 800 nm pumped NOPA using periodically poled stoichiometric lithium tantalate, we amplify a spectrum spanning the 1.1-1.7 microm range and corresponding to two optical cycles of the carrier wavelength. A limited portion of the spectrum is compressed by a prism pair down to 16 fs.