CW seeded optical parametric amplifier providing wavelength and pulse duration tunable nearly transform limited pulses

An optical parametric amplifier that delivers nearly transform limited pulses is presented. The center wavelength of these pulses can be tuned between 993 nm and 1070 nm and, at the same time, the pulse duration is varied between 206 fs and 650 fs. At the shortest pulse duration the pulse energy was increased up to 7.2 mu J at 50 kHz repetition rate. Variation of the wavelength is achieved by applying a tunable cw seed while the pulse duration can be varied via altering the pump pulse duration. This scheme offers superior flexibility and scaling possibilities. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America