Pump tuning of a mid-infrared whispering gallery optical parametric oscillator

Abstract

Optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) constitute an important coherent, narrow-linewidth and widely tunable light source with applications in spectroscopy and many other fields. Their realizations based on whispering gallery resonators (WGRs) provide a small footprint and ultra-low thresholds, with demonstrations of tunability typically done via temperature variation. In this work, we show the pump tuning capabilities of a mm-sized WGR mid-infrared OPO made of CdSiP2. By tuning a telecom wavelength diode laser by 16 nm, we generate tunable light from 2708 to 3575 nm. Furthermore, we show controlled tuning in steps of 1 free spectral range (FSR) and the possibility of 12 GHz of continuous tuning. All these features are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. We conclude that tuning from 2.4 to 4.9 µm is even possible, while still using commercially available near-infrared diode lasers. This work highlights the advantages of pump tuning of WGR OPOs and provides valuable insights for their precise control.