Generation of 120 GW mid-infrared pulses from a widely tunable noncollinear optical parametric amplifier

We demonstrate a noncollinear optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification scheme for generating high-peak-power tunable mid-infrared (IR) pulses. The high-gain LiNbO3-based noncollinear parametric amplifier, seeded by a tunable femtosecond optical parametric amplifier, provides a wide wavelength tuning range from 3.3 to 3.95 mu m and a large saturated gain of over 4000 in a single-stage amplifier. The compressed mid-IR pulse has a pulse energy of 13.3 mJ and pulse duration of 111 fs, with a peak power as high as 120 GW. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest peak power ever reported for 3-5 mu m tunable mid-IR lasers. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America