Entangled-cavity optical parametric oscillator for mid-infrared pulsed single-longitudinal-mode operation

We report a pulsed doubly resonant optical parametric oscillator that uses an original entangled-cavity geometry. This compact source (total volume of 1 L, including the pump laser) displays single-frequency operation (linewidth, <100 MHz), a high repetition rate (>10 kHz), low threshold (<10 muJ), and wide tuning in the mid-infrared. These properties qualify pulsed doubly resonant optical parametric oscillators as powerful tools for applications in such fields as nonlinear spectroscopy, lidar, and pollutant detection.