• Eye-safe optical parametric oscillator produces average power of 33 W

    Engineers at Schwart¥Electro-Optics Aerospace Sensor Division (Orlando, FL) together with researchers at Fibertek (Herndon, VA) developed an eye-safe optical parametric oscillator (OPO) that produces an average output power of 33 W. Described in paper #CPD28 at the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO `97; Baltimore MD), the device is the highest-average-power OPO demonstrated, according to researcher Mark Webb. It is based on four noncritically phase-matched potassium titanyl arsen
    July 1, 1997

    Eye-safe optical parametric oscillator produces average power of 33 W

    Engineers at Schwart¥Electro-Optics Aerospace Sensor Division (Orlando, FL) together with researchers at Fibertek (Herndon, VA) developed an eye-safe optical parametric oscillator (OPO) that produces an average output power of 33 W. Described in paper #CPD28 at the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO `97; Baltimore MD), the device is the highest-average-power OPO demonstrated, according to researcher Mark Webb. It is based on four noncritically phase-matched potassium titanyl arsenate (KTA) crystals and pumped by a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser producing 130-W, 100-H¥pulses at 1064 nm. After isolation and transfer optics, 107 W of pum¥light is available at the OPO input. A maximum power of 33 W is extracted at 1534.7 nm with a bandwidth of 0.6 nm. The OPO is based on a ring configuration; use of KTA minimizes thermal effects in the nonlinear crystals--due to absorption of the idler beam at 3469 nm--that are typical with more-conventional potassium titanyl phosphate crystals. The researchers expect better results when thermal management is incorporated into the OPO design.

    Sign up for Laser Focus World Newsletters
    Get the latest news and updates.

    Voice Your Opinion!

    To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Laser Focus World, create an account today!