Self-referenced octave-wide subharmonic GaP optical parametric oscillator centered at 3  μm and pumped by an Er-fiber...

We report an octave-wide mid-IR spectrum (2.3-4.8 μm) obtained from a subharmonic optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on a newly developed nonlinear crystal, orientation-patterned gallium phosphide (OP-GaP), which was synchronously pumped by a femtosecond 1560 nm fiber laser. We proved that the octave-wide output is in the form of a single frequency comb. The observed f-to-2f frequency beats, originating directly from the OPO, can be used for self-referencing and phase locking of the pump laser comb with no need for supercontinuum generation. With an average output power of ∼30  mW, this setup might be beneficial for a variety of spectroscopic applications in the mid-IR.