Mid-infrared laser beam steering based on Fourier transform OPO

Inertia-less optical scanners are an essential building block for many systems, including remote sensing, spectroscopy, and optronics. Although many solutions provide efficient scanning devices in the visible to near-infrared spectral range today, none of these devices offers good performances in longer wavelengths like in the mid-IR range. The new rationale that is described in this paper is to take advantage of existing and well-proven steering techniques in the near IR and to reach mid-IR by frequency conversion in a specifically designed Fourier transform optical parametric oscillator.