Mercury thiogallate mid-infrared femtosecond optical parametric generator pumped at 1.25 microm by a Cr:forsterite regenerative amplifier.

We demonstrate a novel traveling-wave-type optical parametric generator based on 1.25-microm pumping of HgGa(2)S(4) that produces tunable, high-power, transform-limited infinity 200-fs pulses in the mid-IR from 5 to 9 microm. Output idler energies on the microjoule level are obtained with maximum conversion efficiency of 11% for the amplifier stage, which is more than two times better than the results obtained with an analogous sample of the widely spread material AgGaS(2).

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