Parametric generation of wavelength-tunable ultrashort optical pulses

The synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator is an efficient, wavelength-tunable laser source that can cover a wide wavelength range not accessible with conventional laser sources. With the recent advance in the development of high-quality nonlinear crystal and the new techniques to generate continuous wave mode-locked optical pulses, it becomes possible to generate wavelength-tunable picosecond and femtosecond pulses which cover the wavelength range from visible to mid-infrared. Presented in this dissertation is the experimental work to construct such a source based on the additive-pulse mode-locked Nd:YLF laser pulses. The design and characteristics of the KTP based picocsecond synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator are discussed and are compared with previous theoretical work. Efforts to extend the wavelength range to 10...