Abstract

Currently, tunable picosecond pulses are mainly supplied by the synchronously pumped dye laser. However, individual dyes have rather limited tuning ranges, and dye laser operation becomes increasingly difficult for operation in the near IR. The synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator, however,¹ can provide a source of picosecond pulses which is widely and continuously tunable across the visible and IR spectral regions.

© 1988 Optical Society of America