Controllable duration and repetition-rate picosecond pulses from a high-average-power OP-GaAs OPO

We report an orientation-patterned gallium arsenide (OP-GaAs) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) offering a high degree of temporal flexibility with controllable pulse repetition rates from 100 MHz to 1 GHz and pulse durations from ∼95 ps to ∼1.1 ns. The maximum average power of 9.2-W signal (3.3 μm) and 4.5-W idler (4.9 μm) was obtained at a repetition rate of 100 MHz and a pulse duration of ∼95 ps, with a pump power of 34.3 W and at a slope efficiency of 45.4%. The corresponding total average output power of 13.7 W is the highest power achieved to date from an OP-GaAs OPO, to the best of our knowledge.