title: Temperature stable operation of YCOB crystal for giant-pulse green microlaser.
abstract: In this work the performance of two yttrium calcium oxyborate (YCOB) crystals made by Czochralski and Bridgman growth process was measured. By using high peak power, passively Q-switched Nd3+:YAG/Cr4+:YAG microlaser, high conversion second harmonic generation efficiency were obtained. Laser pulses at 532 nm with 1.14 mJ energy and 223 ps duration were obtained with a 15-mm long YCOB crystal that was grown by Bridgman method. The conversion efficiency was 70.2%, comparable with the conversion efficiency of 72.8% that was achieved with 10-mm long lithium triborate (LBO) nonlinear crystal. Also, for the first time, experimental data on temperature tuning in type I YCOB crystal was measured with linear slope in 200°C temperature range equal to -0.057%/°C and -0.064%/°C for the Czochralski and Bridgman grown crystals, respectively. Such YCOB nonlinear crystal can become a serious option for developing laser sources with high-peak power at high repetition rate that can operate in harsh environment.
authors.forename: Arvydas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kausas
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Loiseau
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aka
authors.forename: Yanqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Lihe
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Takunori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taira