Widely tunable optical parametric oscillator in periodically poled congruently grown lithium tantalite whispering gallery mode resonators

We demonstrate a tunable optical parametric oscillator in a periodically poled congruently grown lithium tantalite whispering gallery mode resonator. The resonator is mechanically polished to millimeter size, and the quality factor is approximately 107 at 1064 nm. Our experiments show that this kind of resonator is capable of reaching a very low threshold and having a wide tuning range. Combined with its narrow resonant linewidth, it is potentially used as a compact, widely tunable, and narrow-linewidth infrared to mid-infrared laser source.