Parametric amplification of mid-infrared picosecond radiation

Abstract

High power, tunable, mid-infrared sources are important in many fields, like spectroscopy and medical applications. This thesis presents a technique for realising a high power tuneable mid-infrared picosecond source, by combining the radiation from a free electron laser with a powerful Nd:YAG pump laser. The method allows obtaining an amplified energy of the order of one millijoule, for pulse durations of few picoseconds and a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The radiation is tuneable in the wavelength range of 4-11 μm. The amplified energy depends on the wavelength and varies between few hundreds of microjoules to one millijoule, while the input pulse duration is preserved.

Date of Award	Feb 2006
Original language	English
Supervisor	Allan M. MacLeod (Supervisor) & W. Allan Gillespie (Supervisor)