Mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator synchronously pumped by an erbium-doped fiber laser

A mid-infrared synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator pumped by a femtosecond erbium-doped fiber laser is demonstrated and characterised. The idler is tunable from 3.7-4.7 μm, with a maximum average power of 37 mW and a pulse length of ∼ 480 fs at 4 μm. We compare the experimental results with numerical results based on an extensive simulation model.