Parametric amplification of mid-infrared picosecond radiation
High power, tunable, mid-infrared sources are important in many fields, like spectroscopy and medical applications. This thesis presents a technique for realising a high power tuneable mid-infrared picosecond source, by combining the radiation from a free electron laser with a powerful Nd:YAG pump laser. The method allows obtaining an amplified energy of the order of one millijoule, for pulse durations of few picoseconds and a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The radiation is tuneable in the wavelength range of 4-11 μm. The amplified energy depends on the wavelength and varies between few hundreds of microjoules to one millijoule, while the input pulse duration is preserved.
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