Difference frequency generation in AgGaS2:: Sellmeier and temperature-dispersion equations

Two single-mode diode lasers and AgGaS2 as a nonlinear medium are applied for difference frequency generation (DFG) in the mid-infrared spectral range between 4.9 and 6.5 mum. Phase matching is achieved by either temperature tuning or angle tuning of the crystal. Experimentally measured sets of input wavelengths lambda (s) and lambda (p) the resulting DFG wavelength lambda (i), and corresponding phase-matching temperatures or angles are compared with the calculated values derived by use of different Sellmeier equations and coefficients and temperature-dispersion equations dn/dT. Our results show that only specific combinations of previously published Sellmeier equations, coefficients, and temperature-dispersion equations are suitable for exact calculations of phase-matching parameters. These combinations reproduce our experimentally obtained phase-matching temperatures and angles with an accuracy of better than 5% and are therefore of fundamental interest for the design of a mid-infrared DFG spectrometer with AgGaS2 as a nonlinear medium. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.