Abstract

Compact blue-green light sources are attractive for many applications. There are several examples of intracavity frequency doubled sources in the blue wavelength region. However, these sources do not prospect well for high-frequency modulation applications, due to the long lifetime of the meta-stable state in the laser host. Risk et al have demonstrated a scheme to circumvent this [1]. J. They utilized intracavity frequency mixing in KTiOPO₄ (KTP) of pump at 809 nm and the laser wavelength 1064 nm in a Nd:YAG miniature laser. This non-linear process is non-critically phasematched at room temperature with exceptionally broad temperature and angular tolerances. Nd: YAG, however, has the disadvantage of emitting unpolarized light, thereby prohibiting an efficient energy conversion of the 1064 nm radiation.

© 1996 IEEE