Tunable picosecond infrared laser system based on parametric amplification in KTP with a Ti:sapphire amplifier

A picosecond laser system that will generate high-power tunable IR pulses with bandwidths suitable for spectroscopic applications is discussed. The system is based on white-light continuum generation in ethylene glycol and optical parametric amplification in potassium titanyl phosphate. The nonlinear-optical processes are driven by a regeneratively amplified Ti:sapphire laser that produces 1.7-ps pulses at a repetition rate of 1 kHz. Energies as high as 40 and 12 microJ have been achieved over the signal (1.02-1.16-microm) and idler (2.6-3.7-microm) tuning ranges, respectively. The IR beam temporal and spatial characteristics are also presented.