Title :
An excimer-pumped β-BaB2O4 optical parametric oscillator tunable from 354 nm to 2.370 μm
Author :
Ebrahimzadeh, Majid ; Henderson, Angus J. ; Dunn, Malcolm H.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Phys. & Astron., St. Andrews Univ., UK
fDate :
7/1/1990 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
A pulsed singly resonant optical parametric oscillator (OPO) has been constructed which can provide tunable coherent radiation over the entire wavelength range extending from 354 nm in the near ultraviolet, throughout the visible, to 2.370 μm in the near infrared using a single β-BaB2O4 crystal. The oscillator is pumped at 308 nm by a pulsed narrow band injection-seeded XeCl excimer laser in a near-field pumping configuration, and energy conversion efficiencies (optical-to-optical) in excess of 10% have been obtained in a 12-nm-long crystal across the OPO tuning range. The requirements placed upon the spectral and spatial coherence of the pump laser for optimum OPO operation are discussed. Experimental results on several oscillator parameters, including tuning range, oscillation threshold, energy conversion efficiency, and spatial and temporal characteristics, are presented
Keywords :
barium compounds; light coherence; light sources; optical parametric oscillators; optical pumping; tuning; β-BaB2O4 optical parametric oscillator; 10 percent; 12 nm; 308 nm; 354 nm to 2.370 micron; BaB2O4; IR light sources; OPO tuning; XeCl; coherent radiation; energy conversion efficiencies; excimer-pumped; near UV to near IR radiation; near-field pumping configuration; oscillation threshold; pulsed narrow band injection-seeded XeCl excimer laser; pulsed singly resonant optical parametric oscillator; spatial coherence; spectral coherence; tuning range; Energy conversion; Laser excitation; Laser tuning; Nonlinear optics; Optical pulses; Optical pumping; Optical tuning; Oscillators; Pump lasers; Resonance;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
