Master optical parametric oscillator/power optical parametric oscillator
US5457707A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 24, 1993 |
| Grant date | Oct 10, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 24, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02F1/39
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A tunable laser system having a wide tunable range, and narrow line widths, achieves relatively high output powers. The tunable laser system includes a master optical parametric oscillator which generates a seed beam, and a power optical parametric oscillator which is responsive to the seed beam to generate a narrow line width, high power output beam. The master OPO and power OPO comprise gain media consisting of BBO, tunable over a range from about 400 nanometers to more than 2000 nanometers. The master OPO includes line narrowing elements, such as a tunable grating, which limits the line width of the output beam to less than one wave number (centimeter.sup.-1). Pump energy is supplied to the master OPO and power OPO using a Nd:YAG laser with a harmonic generator, so that the second, third, or fourth harmonics of the primary 1064 nanometer line of YAG can be used to pump the BBO crystals. The power OPO may be an unstable resonator.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.