Title :
Portable ultrafast blue light sources designed with frequency doubling in KTP and KNbO3
Author :
Agate, Ben ; Rafailov, Edik U. ; Sibbett, Wilson ; Saltiel, Solomon M. ; Koynov, Kaloian ; Tiihonen, Mikael ; Wang, Shunhua ; Laurell, Fredrik ; Battle, Philip ; Fry, Tim ; Roberts, Tony ; Noonan, Elizabeth
Author_Institution :
Interdisciplinary Centre for Med. Photonics, Univ. of St. Andrews, UK
Abstract :
We demonstrate an effective means of achieving compact, truly portable, and entirely self-contained ultrafast blue light sources. Using a variety of nonlinear media to achieve simple second-harmonic generation of a femtosecond Cr:LiSAF laser, we investigate the relative merits of aperiodically poled bulk and waveguide nonlinear crystals in comparison to periodically poled structures. Such a compact and convenient source of ultrashort laser pulses in the blue spectral region could be of great interest for on-site applications spanning a host of disciplines, such as biomedical imaging, optical micromanipulation, and high-resolution spectroscopy.
Keywords :
chromium; high-speed optical techniques; infrared sources; nonlinear media; optical harmonic generation; optical materials; optical pumping; optical waveguides; portable instruments; potassium compounds; solid lasers; Cr:LiSAF laser; KNbO3; KTP; KTiOPO4; LiSrAlF6:Cr; aperiodically poled bulk crystals; biomedical imaging; blue light sources; blue spectral region; diode-pumped lasers; femtosecond laser; frequency doubling; high-resolution spectroscopy; nonlinear media; on-site applications; optical micromanipulation; portable light sources; second-harmonic generation; self-contained light sources; ultrafast light sources; waveguide nonlinear crystals; Biomedical optical imaging; Crystals; Frequency; Light sources; Nonlinear optics; Optical harmonic generation; Optical pulses; Optical waveguides; Ultrafast optics; Waveguide lasers;
Journal_Title :
Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JSTQE.2004.837714
