Mid-infrared frequency comb generation using a continuous-wave pumped optical parametric oscillator

We report a mid-infrared frequency comb generator, which produces up to 3 W of output power. The comb mode spacing is 208 MHz, the spectral bandwidth is ∼300 GHz, and the center wavelength is tunable between 3 and 3.4 μm. The comb generation is based on intracavity difference frequency mixing between near-infrared pump and signal beams of a continuous-wave-pumped optical parametric oscillator. The signal beam, which is resonant in the cavity, acquires a comb structure through cascading quadratic nonlinearities in a periodically poled lithium niobate crystal. This comb structure is transferred to the spectrum of the mid-infrared idler beam via the difference frequency mixing process.