Continuous-wave optical parametric oscillation tunable up to 8 mm wavelength

We demonstrate the first cw OPO emitting mid-infrared light at wavelengths up to 8 mm. This device is based on a 3.5-mm-diameter whispering gallery resonator made of silver gallium selenide (AgGaSe2) pumped by a compact distributed feedback laser diode emitting light at 1.57 mm wavelength. Phase-matching is achieved for a c-cut resonator disk pumped with extraordinarily polarized light at this wavelength. The oscillation thresholds are in the mW region, while the output power ranges from 10 to 800 mW. Wavelength tuning is achieved via changing the radial mode number of the pump wave and by changing the resonator temperature. Simulations predict that whispering gallery OPOs based on AgGaSe2 with diameters around 2 mm can generate idler waves exceeding 10 mm wavelength.