Tunable optical parametric amplification of a single-frequency quantum cascade laser around 8 mu m in ZnGeP sub(2)

We demonstrate optical parametric amplification in ZnGeP sub(2)(ZGP) of the radiation emitted by a single-frequency continuous-wave quantum cascade laser (QCL) in the range 7.8-8.4 mu m. The ZGP amplifier is pumped by a single-frequency parametric source at 2210 nm. For a pump energy of 6 mJ, we rep...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics letters 2013-01, Vol.38 (20), p.4046-4049
Main Authors: Clement, Quentin, Melkonian, Jean-Michel, Barrientos-Barria, Jessica, Dherbecourt, Jean-Baptiste, Raybaut, Myriam, Godard, Antoine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amplification
Amplifiers
Backscattering
Emittance
Gain
Pumps
Quantum cascade lasers
Spectroscopy
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Summary:We demonstrate optical parametric amplification in ZnGeP sub(2)(ZGP) of the radiation emitted by a single-frequency continuous-wave quantum cascade laser (QCL) in the range 7.8-8.4 mu m. The ZGP amplifier is pumped by a single-frequency parametric source at 2210 nm. For a pump energy of 6 mJ, we report an average gain of 50 over this range and a maximum gain of 111 for 7.5 mJ. An exponential trend is observed when changing the pump energy, with very good agreement with theory. These features are of valuable interest for increasing the standoff detection range of hazardous chemicals and explosives by QCL-based backscattering spectroscopy systems.
ISSN:0146-9592
1539-4794
DOI:10.1364/OL.38.004046