The technology described in this document can be used to implement an optical device including a seed pump laser to produce pump seed laser pulses at a pump wavelength, a pulse stretcher operable to stretch a pulse duration of the pump seed laser pulses to produce stretched pump seed laser pulses, a pump fiber amplifier including one or more fiber gain media to receive the seed pump laser pulses to produce a pump laser beam of pump laser pulses, a signal laser to produce a signal laser beam at a signal wavelength different from the pump wavelength, an optical module coupled to combine the pump laser beam and the signal laser beam, and a fiber optical parametric amplifier (OPA) to cause a nonlinear parametric interaction in the nonlinear fiber medium to produce an output signal beam, an output idler laser beam at an idler wavelength, and an output pump beam.

An introduction unit that introduces a pump light pulse having a first wavelength, a shaping unit that shapes a waveform of the pump light pulse, a nonlinear optical waveguide that generates a wavelength converted light pulse from a pump light pulse, the pump light pulse being a pulse that has been shaped in the shaping unit, through an optical parametric process, the wavelength converted light pulse including a second wavelength different from the first wavelength. The shaping unit shapes the waveform of the pump light pulse such that an absolute value of a time rate of change of the waveform at a peak area of the pump light pulse that has been shaped is smaller than an absolute value of a time rate of change of the waveform at a peak area of the pump light pulse before being shaped with the shaping unit.

An infrared detection system comprises the following elements. A laser source provides radiation for illuminating a target (5). This radiation is tuned to at least one wavelength in the fingerprint region of the infrared spectrum. A detector (32) detects radiation backscattered from the target (5). An analyser determines from at least the presence or absence of detected signal in said at least one wavelength whether a predetermined volatile compound is present. An associated detection method is also provided. In embodiments, the laser source is tunable over a plurality of wavelengths, and the detector comprises a hyperspectral imaging system. The laser source may be an optical parametric device has a laser gain medium for generating a pump beam in a pump laser cavity, a pump laser source and a nonlinear medium comprising a ZnGeP.sub.2 (ZGP) crystal. On stimulation by the pump beam, the ZnGeP.sub.2 (ZGP) crystal is adapted to generate a signal beam having a wavelength in a fingerprint region of the spectrum and an idler beam having a wavelength in the mid-infrared region of the spectrum. The laser gain medium and the ZnGeP.sub.2 (ZGP) crystal are located in the pump wave cavity.

A system includes a first optical frequency comb generator that generates a first parametrically generated comb using parametric mixing comprising a first plurality of optical waves including at least one first optical wave. The system includes a second optical frequency comb generator that generates a second parametrically generated comb using parametric mixing comprising a second plurality of optical waves. The second optical frequency comb generator receives the at least one first optical wave and generates the second plurality of optical waves using the at least one first optical wave. Respective center frequencies of one or more optical waves of the first plurality of optical waves are aligned in frequency with respective center frequencies of one or more optical waves of the second plurality of optical waves.

Briefly, methods and/or systems, are described for a wavelength-dispersive mode-locked fiber-ring laser, which generates an Airy beam profile for stable optical pulses.

An illumination device for generating multiple wavelength, narrow linewidth, single longitudinal and single transversal mode emission, includes a laser-medium inside a laser-resonator configured to receive a pump beam from a single pump diode and produce a laser wave. Laser-resonator ingress and egress mirrors are configured to resonate the laser wave. An an OPO-resonator and OPO crystal are configured to receive the laser wave and produce short and long OPO waves. An OPO-resonator ingress mirror is configured to resonate the short OPO wave with the laser-resonator egress mirror. A nonlinear output crystal is configured to receive the short OPO wave and produce at least one output wave, wherein the the laser-resonator egress mirror is configured to emit at least two of the leaking out laser wave and the output waves.

Phase modulated Optical Parametric Amplification Imaging (p-OPA), can be used to determine the magnitude and the sign of the second-order nonlinear susceptibility of a material, and its spatial variation.

An infrared detection system comprises the following elements. A laser source provides radiation for illuminating a target (5). This radiation is tuned to at least one wavelength in the fingerprint region of the infrared spectrum. A detector (32) detects radiation backscattered from the target (5). An analyzer determines from at least the presence or absence of detected signal in said at least one wavelength whether a predetermined volatile compound is present. An associated detection method is also provided. In embodiments, the laser source is tunable over a plurality of wavelengths, and the detector comprises a hyperspectral imaging system. The laser source may be an optical parametric device has a laser gain medium for generating a pump beam in a pump laser cavity, a pump laser source and a nonlinear medium comprising a ZnGeP2 (ZGP) crystal. On stimulation by the pump beam, the ZnGeP2 (ZGP) crystal is adapted to generate a signal beam having a wavelength in a fingerprint region of the spectrum and an idler beam having a wavelength in the mid-infrared region of the spectrum. The laser gain medium and the ZnGeP2 (ZGP) crystal are located in the pump wave cavity.

A light source providing tunable light of macroscopic power, particularly by utilizing a broadband pump source, an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) and at least one additional nonlinear process. The light source is capable of producing a tunable broadband emission of macroscopic power, particularly at wavelengths less than 1.1 m.

A fluid filled fiber for a quasi-phase matched generator and a laser incorporating such a fluid filled fiber. The laser has a liquid filled fiber with charge transfer molecules dissolved in a solvent. The liquid of the liquid filled fiber comprises or consists essentially of highly polar liquids and/or charge transfer molecules having relatively high molecular dipole values.