Sum-frequency generation of continuous-wave tunable ultraviolet coherent light in BBO-installed external cavity

Abstract

Recently, we have tried to develop a continuous wave (CW), tunable, and ultraviolet (UV) coherent light source through sum-frequency generation (SFG) using a BBO nonlinear crystal with a two-stage frequency-conversion system using two different external cavities for the enhancement of CW lights. In the first stage, we obtained the 532-nm light with the second harmonic generation (SHG) of the 1064-nm light. A bow-tie external cavity incorporating four mirrors, whose cavity length was controlled by the frequency stabilization method proposed by Hänsch and Couillaud, was employed there. In the second stage, to generate the 312-nm light, we demonstrated doubly resonant sum frequency generation of the 532-nm light from the first-stage and the 754-nm light from a single-frequency CW Ti:Sapphire laser. Considering a nonlinear coefficient, it should be preferable to use a BiBO crystal for high-efficient SFG, but the 312-nm light might be absorbed by the BiBO crystal. Therefore, we chose a BBO as a nonlinear crystal to avoid the absorption of the 312-nm light.