Low Power Long Wave Infrared Laser Sources

We propose an optical parametric oscillator based on silver gallium selenide and pumped by the output of a Raman laser for the generation of infrared radiation tunable between 7.5 and 9 microns at 10-kHz repetition rates. The recently developed Raman laser provides high-quality output beams with selectable pulse duration and is well-suited to OPO pumping. The OPO will be injection seeded to reduce build-up time and increase efficiency. We will model multiple-stage OPO's with quantum efficiencies in excess of unity for increased power conversion, and will begin implementation of such systems if time permits.