title: Efficient 550-600-nm tunable laser based on noncritically phase-matched frequency doubling of room-temperature LiF:F2- in lithium triborate.
abstract: We report on efficient conversion of a 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser to tunable visible light. The conversion scheme uses noncritically phase-matched second-harmonic generation of a pulsed Nd:YAG-pumped LiF:F2- laser in lithium triborate. Optimization yields 42% LiF:F2- laser efficiency and 56% frequency-doubling efficiency, providing >20% conversion from 1064 nm to broadly tunable visible output. A dramatic sensitivity of laser efficiency to pump pulse duration is recorded, with a fundamental efficiency improvement of over 30-fold measured for an increase in pump pulse duration from 5 to 34 ns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. mgiffin@oceanit.com
authors.forename: S Maile
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Giffin
authors.forename: Glenn W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Baxter
authors.forename: Iain T
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: McKinnie
authors.forename: Valerii V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Ter-Mikirtychev