An opposite-chirped frequency-domain optical parametric amplification (OC-FOPA) design is demonstrated and numerically verified. This scheme combines both an ultrabroad seeding generation and the subsequent effective amplification in one single optical parametric amplification stage. Based on a slightly asymmetrical 4-f optical system, the spectral contents of both pump and signal waves are spectrally dispersed with opposite spatial chirps, to broaden the initial idler seeding. Via a properly designed fan-out periodically poled LiNbO3 chip, nearly perfect quasi phase matching can be realized across the full spectrum, whereby each individual spectral pair precisely maps to its required grating period. Full-dimensional simulations based on commercial ～110 fs (FWHM) near-infrared (near-IR) lasers at 790 and 1030 nm are quantitatively discussed, and few-cycle mid-IR laser pulses (～60 fs at 3.4 μm) plus a high conversion efficiency exceeding 50% are theoretically predicted. By means of a high-power pump source, the OC-FOPA scheme can be also applied to directly produce high-intensity carrier-envelope-phase-stabilized mid-IR idler pulses.

We briefly review the development of gain-switched rare-earth-doped fiber lasers and their applications in wavelength conversion to mid-IR, supercontinuum generation, and medicine in recent years. We illustrate the similarities between gain-switching and Q-switching techniques that will provide tools for the design and optimization of the gain-switched fiber lasers. From the nature of the gain-switched fiber lasers, benefits of this kind of lasers to 2-μm region and in-band-pumped (two-level system) laser systems are obvious. Advantages of in-band-pumped 2-μm lasers are discussed and analyzed with a simple numerical simulation in terms of Tm-doped fiber lasers. We also propose the key factors in the development of the gain-switched fiber lasers and predict the future tendency.