  We report on the generation of broadband, high-energy femtosecond pulses
centered at 1.28 um by stimulated Raman scattering in pressurized hydrogen
cell. Stimulated Raman scattering is performed by two chirped and delayed
pulses originating from a multi-mJ Ti:Sapphire amplifier. The Stokes pulse
carries energy of 4.4 mJ and is recompressed down to 66 fs by reflective
grating pair. We characterized the short-wavelength mid-infrared source in view
of energy stability, beam profile and conversion efficiency at a repetition
rate of 100 Hz and 10 Hz. The demonstrated laser will benefit intense THz
generation applications from highly nonlinear organic crystals.
