Light Bullets from Chirped High-Power Femtosecond Pulses under Normal GVD for Mid-IR Optical Parametric Amplification

Mid-IR laser systems have a variety of applications ranging from generation of coherent x-ray and THz radiation to microstructuring of bulk dielectrics and semiconductors. To reach the mid-IR region, optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs) are employed for down-conversion of high energy near-IR pump lasers and require seed radiation at 1.5–2 μm. Several attempts have been made to improve the supercontinuum (SC) generated in bulk [1,2] and gas [3], but the spectral brightness and/or temporal quality in the region of 1.5–2 μm stays quite poor. We performed an extensive parametric analysis of SC generation in different dielectric materials and found a regime with well-resolved local maxima in the red wing that is highly appropriate as an OPA seed. These results provide strong ground for further development of SC-seeded ultrafast OPAs in the mid-IR spectral range using Cr:Forsterite and ytterbium based lasers as pump sources [4].