Ultra-stable high average power femtosecond laser system tunable from 1.33 to 20 μm

A highly stable 350 fs laser system with a gap-free tunability from 1.33 to 2.0 mu m and 2.13 to 20 mu m is demonstrated. Nanojoule-level pulse energy is achieved in the mid-infrared at a 43 MHz repetition rate. The system utilizes a post-amplified fiber-feedback optical parametric oscillator followed by difference frequency generation between the signal and idler. No locking or synchronization electronics are required to achieve outstanding free-running output power and spectral stability of the whole system. Ultra-low intensity noise, close to the pump laser's noise figure, enables shot-noise limited measurements. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America