High power frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser with LiB3O5 crystal for industrial applications

Abstract

For high power industrial, intracavity frequency doubled, Nd:YAG laser systems, KTiOPO4 (KTP) is a very difficult nonlinear optical material to use because of the low damage threshold, smaller acceptance angle and higher birefringence (larger walk-off angle). In orderto achieve high power (more than 80 watts) of 532 nm laser light from a single Nd:YAG cavity, we have studied the Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) of Lithium Triborate (LiB3O5 or LBO), a relatively new nonlinear optical crystal discovered and developed in 1989. Both theoretical and experimental results are discussed in terms of the damage threshold, SHG conversion efficiency, acceptance and walk-off angles, as well as the techniques for both critical and non-critical phase-matching.For high power industrial, intracavity frequency doubled, Nd:YAG laser systems, KTiOPO4 (KTP) is a very difficult nonlinear optical material to use because of the low damage threshold, smaller acceptance angle and higher birefringence (larger walk-off angle). In orderto achieve high power (more than 80 watts) of 532 nm laser light from a single Nd:YAG cavity, we have studied the Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) of Lithium Triborate (LiB3O5 or LBO), a relatively new nonlinear optical crystal discovered and developed in 1989. Both theoretical and experimental results are discussed in terms of the damage threshold, SHG conversion efficiency, acceptance and walk-off angles, as well as the techniques for both critical and non-critical phase-matching.