Abstract

High-brightness continuous-wave (cw) beams at various wavelengths in the near and mid-infrared, visible, and ultraviolet are in demand for numerous applications spanning defence, astronomy, space-science, medicine and remote-sensing. While fiber lasers are an attractive solid-state technology for high-brightness cw beams, their output wavelengths are restricted to 1–1.1 μm (for ytterbium), 2 μm (thulium) and their harmonics. Nonlinear frequency conversion, in OPOs/OPAs and with Raman conversion, is often used as a means for converting beams to a desired wavelength, but thermal loading in the nonlinear crystal typically leads to beam distortions at higher powers, limiting beam brightness.

© 2017 IEEE