Abstract
Although the beam pointing stability of optical parametric oscillators and amplifiers is important for various applications few results on this parameter have been published. Here, we investigate the beam pointing stability of an injection-seeded, nanosecond optical parametric oscillator, compare it to its pump laser, and measure correlations between them. Although correlation between both quantities are found, the beam pointing stability of the OPO is significantly better that the one of its pump. Furthermore, the concept of the Allan variance is applied to analyze the temporal components of the pointing stability.
Highlights
The angular drift of a laser beam is of particular concern in applications such as laser-based metrology and laser-based material processing
The evaluation of the beam pointing stability on a time basis of 1 min of both Optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) and Nd:YAG laser revealed that the OPO stability is significantly better than of its pump laser
The beam pointing fluctuations of a pulsed, injection-seeded OPO were analyzed in detail
Summary
The angular drift of a laser beam is of particular concern in applications such as laser-based metrology (from long-distance guiding systems to short-distance scanning microscopes) and laser-based material processing. Optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) are increasingly used for such applications [1] due to their unsurpassed tunability. Their beam pointing stability is still inadequately investigated. The difference in OPO beam pointing was analyzed when its wavelength is switched between two distinct values by changing the wavelength of its seed laser. Such mode of operation is required for differential absorption lidar [1]
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