KTP Nonlinear Crystal Research Articles

Self-Mixing Displacement Measured by a Two-Color Laser in 66-nm Steps

We demonstrate a new self-mixing interferometer (SMI) simultaneously working on two wavelengths, the fundamental at 1064 nm and the second harmonic at 532 nm delivered in the same beam. The beam is sent to the remote target in the usual way, and in the return path, two photodiodes detect the two self-mixing signals without crosstalk. As the source, we were able to use a diode-pumped neodymium-doped yttrium vanadate (Nd:YVO4 laser crystal) with potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP nonlinear crystal) two-color laser of a commercial pointer. With simple processing of the two self-mixing signals, we are able to obtain the interferometric signals <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\cos (2ks)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sin (2ks)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> at 532 nm, from which the unambiguous measurement of arbitrary target displacement follows with counts in units of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda /8$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of the second-harmonic wavelength or 66 nm.

β-BBO, LBO, AND KTP Nonlinear Crystals as Sources of Millimeter-Wave Radiation

The refractive indices and the absorption coefficients of β-BBO, LBO, and KTP nonlinear optical crystals have been measured in the wavelength range of 0.5–3 mm at temperatures of 298 and 78 K. The absorption coefficients of all crystals at a wavelength of 1 mm do not exceed 3.5 cm–1 and fall with cooling. The anisotropy of the absorption coefficients of crystals increases significantly with decreasing wavelength ( 2 mm, it almost disappears. Upon cooling, the absolute values of the absorption coefficients fall below 0.2 cm–1. Based on the measured refractive indices, the collinear phase-matching curves are simulated numerically. The theoretical feasibility of IR (1.064 μm) laser radiation conversion into the millimeter-wave range is demonstrated.

Simultaneous dual-wavelength eye-safe KTP OPO intracavity pumped by a Nd:GYSGG laser

A simultaneous dual-wavelength intracavity pumped non-critical eye-safe optical parametric oscillator (OPO) is realized using a Nd:GYSGG laser crystal and a KTP nonlinear crystal. A folded cavity is used for thermal stability and mode matching, which greatly improves the output characteristics versus a linear cavity. The maximum output power of the 1562.1 nm/1567.4 nm dual-wavelength eye-safe laser is 750 mW at 10 kHz, corresponding to the optical-to-optical conversion efficiency, single-pulse-energy and peak power of 5.8%, 75 μJ and 22.7 kW. Such a dual-wavelength OPO provides a good laser source for remote sensing for CO and CO2 gases or difference frequency generation for terahertz wave at the important 0.65 THz band.

Second-harmonic laser-coupled optical fiber sensor for pH measurement and corrosion detection based on evanescent field absorption

In the present paper, a laser-coupled optical fiber is introduced for pH sensing of Methyl red solution in the Ethanol solvent. Then it is modified for corrosion detection when it was placed inside a corrosive solution. Second-harmonic (SH) radiation of a microchip Q-switched pulsed Nd:YAG laser operating at λ=532nm is generated via KTP nonlinear crystal, and it is launched into the fabricated fiber sensor. The provided evanescent field is absorbed by the surrounding environment in the sensing region, and the output intensity of the absorbed laser beam is monitored and recorded in the presence of the different kind of solvents and corrosive solutions. To increase the sensitivity of the pH sensor the fiber-optic probe is coiled and fixed on a Poly Propylene (PP) mount with 6cm diameter and 10cm long. The fabricated sensor is then calibrated for pH measurement of unknown media. For corrosion detection, a spin motor is used to uniformly coat a small portion of the fiber designed as U-shaped after its clad was removed by a simple chemical method. It is then electroplated by a very thin Fe–C film to form a corrosion sensor. It is observed that while the concentration of the NH4Cl solution is changed from 0.068 to 0.125mol/l and its pH from zero to 14, the output intensity of the launched laser is increased due to the Fe–C film corrosion.

Using a cw 465 nm Laser to Probe Metastable He2 Molecules

A cw 465 nm laser has been built for sensitive detection of helium metastable molecules by resonant absorption on the \(a^{3}\Sigma _{u}^{+}(v=0)-e^{3}\Pi_{g}(v=0)\) transition band. The frequency-mixing radiation is obtained from commercial laser diodes in a periodically-poled KTP non-linear crystal. The 1.3-nm tuning range includes the main rotational lines of 3He2, 4He2, and 3He-4He dimers. Measurements of absolute molecular densities down to a few 109 cm−3 are reported in low pressure (1–400 mbar) room temperature He gas excited by a weak rf discharge. Unsophisticated detection techniques provide signals with good signal-to-noise ratios thanks to the narrow absorption linewidths (a few GHz, due to Doppler and moderate collisional broadenings) in the fully resolved spectrum. Prospects for use or upgrade of this blue laser to probe the broadened and shifted molecular lines in condensed He are discussed.

Frequency tuning and doubling in Yb-doped fiber lasers

A compact Yb-doped fiber laser (YDFL) based on a tunable fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with ∼6 W output power and ∼45 nm tuning around 1080 nm has been developed. The laser output power and its spectral width (∼0.15 nm) do not change significantly at the tuning, while the FBG reflection coefficient increases with an increase in FBG compression. It has been shown that this increase is due to stress-induced changes in the FBG’s refractive-index modulation amplitude. Intracavity frequency doubling in the YDFL has also been performed. About 0.4 W of green radiation with tuning in the range 540–548 nm has been achieved with a KTP nonlinear crystal.

Efficient doubling of femtosecond pulses in aperiodically and periodically poled KTP crystals

Efficient doubling of femtosecond pulses in periodically and aperiodically poled KTP crystals is demonstrated by employing the quasiphasematched frequency conversion technique. Conversion efficiencies as high as 60% were achieved using either aperiodically or periodically poled KTP nonlinear crystals in an extracavity, single-pass configuration using a diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:KYW laser as the pump source. The temporal characteristics of the frequency-doubled pulses as a function of focusing conditions in a "thick" nonlinear crystal regime have been investigated experimentally and pulses as short as 177 fs have been generated at around 520 nm under strong focusing conditions using a KTP crystal with aperiodic poling.

High-power long-pulse second harmonic generation and optical damage with free-running Nd: YAG laser

Frequency doubling with a free-running long-pulse Nd:YAG laser and LBO or KTP nonlinear crystals yields conversion efficiency of up to 17.5% and 162 W peak power in the second harmonic. This efficiency is obtained for a TEM/sub 00/ beam with rectangular temporal pulse shape of 50 to 400 μs. To our knowledge, this is the highest second-harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency reported for the long-pulse free-running configuration. The efficiency is limited by optical damage with much lower threshold than in the Q-switch domain. The damage is preceded by a saturation effect of the SHG efficiency. Both wavelengths (fundamental and second-harmonic) are necessary for the creation of the catastrophic damage. We present first evidence for a mechanism that involves creation of transient absorption centers by the second-harmonic radiation due to multiphoton absorption. Absorption of the fundamental wave at these centers leads to local heating and ultimately catastrophic damage.