Efficient, low-threshold collinear and noncollinear beta-barium borate optical parametric oscillators

The performance of collinear and noncollinear pulsed barium borate optical parametric oscillators with third-harmonic Nd:YAG pumping is analyzed. The effects of tangential phase matching and pump Poynting vector walk-off compensation are shown to enhance noncollinear operation. However, we show that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics letters 1997-06, Vol.22 (12), p.859-861
Main Authors: Oien, A L, McKinnie, I T, Jain, P, Russell, N A, Warrington, D M, Gloster, L A
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The performance of collinear and noncollinear pulsed barium borate optical parametric oscillators with third-harmonic Nd:YAG pumping is analyzed. The effects of tangential phase matching and pump Poynting vector walk-off compensation are shown to enhance noncollinear operation. However, we show that these effects are mutually exclusive for a typeI beta-barium borate optical parametric oscillator and furthermore that tangential phase matching is dominant. The selection of a collinear or a noncollinear configuration is determined by pump divergence and spot size as well as by crystal aperture. With a pump divergence of 4mrad, noncollinear operation is optimal. The highest slope efficiency, 37%, and the lowest threshold, 5mJ, are obtained with nearly perfect tangential phase matching. For a pump divergence of less than 2mrad and a similar spot size, collinear operation gives the lowest threshold, 3.2mJ, and the highest slope efficiency, 33%.
ISSN:0146-9592
1539-4794
DOI:10.1364/OL.22.000859