Tuning of a synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator via a four-plate birefringent filter

In this paper we present a detailed discussion of the birefringent filter design strategy and the experimental performance characteristics obtained for a PPLN synchronously pumped OPO operating with birefringent filter tuning in the 1.3 -1.9 μm region, with pulse duration of ∼4 ps. We have adopted a four-plate birefringent filter design in order to strongly suppress the subsidiary maxima, with plate thicknesses of 1.5 mm, 3 mm, 6 mm, and 12 mm. The transmission characteristics of this four-plate birefringent filter design were calculated to model the height of the subsidiary maxima and their dependence on the birefringent filter rotation angle.