Mid-infrared parametric generation in OP-GaAs waveguides pumped by a femtosecond erbium-doped fluoride fiber laser

We report on the design of OP-GaAs rib waveguides for frequency conversion in the mid-infrared and explore their performances for parametric generation. The samples used are between 10 and 25 mm long and exhibit quasi-phasematched (QPM) periods from 85 to 100 μm. The waveguides are pumped by a femtosecond erbium-doped fluoride fiber laser combined with a soliton self-frequency shift converter delivering sub-300 fs pulses at a wavelength tunable between 2.8 and 3.3 μm. By adjusting the pump wavelength, our OP-GaAs platform can produce ultrashort pulses widely tunable around 4 and 12 μm for the signal and idler, respectively. These results fit quite well our calculations of QPM curves.