Travelling-wave parametric conversion of microjoule pulses with LBO

We report on the travelling-wave parametric generation which employs a temperature-tuned LBO crystal pumped by a ≈ 1 ps dye-laser source. Pulses of good spatial quality, tunable from 0.8 to 2 μm, are obtained with pump pulses of a few microjoules. Temporally structured pump pulses allow for the lower thresholds and the shorter time durations.