title: Absolute measurement of the effective nonlinearities of KTP and BBO crystals by optical parametric amplification.
abstract: Absolute magnitudes of the effective nonlinearity, deff, were measured for seven KTP and six BBO crystals. The d(eff), were derived from the parametric gain of an 800-nm signal wave in the sample crystals when they were pumped by the frequency-doubled, spatially filtered light from an injectionseeded, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. The KTP crystals, all type II phase matched with propagation in the X-Z plane, had d(eff) values ranging from 1.97 to 3.50 pm/V. Measurements of gain as a function of phase velocity mismatch indicate that two of the KTP crystals clearly contain multiple ferroelectric domains. For five type I phase-matched BBO crystals, d(eff) ranged from 1.76 to 1.83 pm/V, and a single type II phase-matched BBO crystal had a d(eff) of 1.56 pm/V. The uncertainty in our measurements of d(eff) values is ±5% for KTP and ±10% for BBO.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Alford
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Raymond
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Smith