DIFFERENCE-FREQUENCY-GENERATION IN AGGAS2 BY USE OF SINGLE-MODE DIODE-LASER PUMP SOURCES

We explored the suitability of visible III-V single-mode cw diodes for difference-frequency generation of tunable infrared radiation by mixing a red single-mode cw III-V diode laser with a tunable single-frequency cw Ti:sapphire laser in AgGaS2. More than 1 muW of cw tunable, infrared (lambda almost-equal-to 5 mum), narrow-band coherent radiation was generated with type I noncritical phase matching. The wavelength and output-power characteristics of this novel tunable all-solid-state laser source are described, and we demonstrate the applicability of the source to high-resolution molecular spectroscopy by obtaining a test spectrum. The feasibility of a more compact solid-state cw laser spectrometer based on the mixing of two single-mode diode lasers (808 and 690 nm) as pump sources in AgGaS2 is shown (infrared power generated almost-equal-to 3 nW).