Line narrowing of AgGaSe2 optical parametric oscillator by injection seeding
Solid-state lasers are developed for atmospheric applications. Optical parametric oscillators (OPO) are being investigated as sources of tunable radiation in the 2.5-12 micron range where development of conventional lasers is subject to numerous difficulties. Parametric oscillation is a nonlinear optical technique for converting laser output to longer wavelengths. Incident photons, typically from a pulsed pump laser, are converted into two photons of longer wavelength, while satisfying energy conservation. The particular split of energy is determined by momentum conservation; the wavelength of interest is usually selected by angle orientation of the nonlinear material with respect to the direction of propagation of the pump beam. An OPO based on AgGaSe2 was considered.