Generation of tunable subpicosecond light pulses in the midinfrared between 4.5 and 11.5 Mum

Stable subpicosecond infrared pulses in the spectral region of
4.5-11.5 ,um are generated by difference-frequency mixing in
AgGaS2. The system uses femtosecond pulses from a Ti:sapphire
regenerative amplifier and from a tunable traveling-wave dye laser.
The infrared pulses have a duration of 400 fs, an energy of more
than 10 nJ, and a repetition rate of 1 kHz.