Fast tunable Mid-IR source pumped by a picosecond fiber laser

We have developed a fast wavelength modulated mid-IR source, especially designed for gas spectroscopy. The whole laser source is composed of a picosecond fiber laser emitting a spectrally narrow signal which can be modulated between 1028.3 nm and 1029.3 nm at the kHz range. This fiber laser seeds a Synchronously Pumped Optical Parametric Oscillator. This latter converts the near-IR pump (1028.3 nm) to the mid-IR region (3000-3500 nm) with equivalent modulation parameters i.e. 10 cm-1 tuning range at the kilohertz modulation frequency. This laser was combined with a photo-acoustic cell for methane detection.