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Frontiers in Planar Lightwave Circuit Technology pp 189–227Cite as

EFFICIENT FREQUENCY-DOUBLING OF FEMTOSECOND PULSES IN WAVEGUIDE AND BULK NONLINEAR CRYSTALS Design, fabrication, theory and experiment

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Part of the book series: NATO Science Series II: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry ((NAII,volume 216))

Abstract

We investigate efficient frequency-doubling of low energy femtosecond pulses in bulk and waveguide nonlinear crystals, thereby demonstrating how to achieve a compact and portable ultrafast blue light source. Using a femtosecond Cr:LiSAF laser (fundamental wavelength 860 nm), we examine the relative merits of the process of second harmonic generation (SHG) using bulk potassium niobate, bulk aperiodically-poled KTP, periodically-poled and aperiodically-poled KTP waveguide crystals. While SHG conversion efficiencies up to 37% were achieved using the waveguides, non-traditional strong focusing in the bulk samples yielded efficiencies of 30%. We have developed several theoretical models to accurately describe the temporal and spectral properties of the generated blue light, as well as the observed saturation behavior of the conversion process in the waveguide structures.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9SS, Scotland, U.K.

    Ben Agate & Wilson Sibbett

  2. Division of Electronic Engineering and Physics, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 4HN, Scotland, U.K.

    Edik U. Rafailov

  3. Faculty of Physics, University of Sofia, 5 J. Bourchier Boulevard, Sofia, BG-1164, Bulgaria

    Solomon M. Saltiel

  4. Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, Mainz, D-55128, Germany

    Kaloian Koynov

  5. Department of Physics, Royal Institute of Technology, Roslagstullsbacken 21, Stockholm, SE-10691, Sweden

    Mikael Tiihonen, Shunhua Wang & Fredrik Laurell

  6. AdvR Inc., Suite K, 910 Technology Boulevard, Bozemon, Montana, 59718, USA

    Philip Battle, Tim Fry, Tony Roberts & Elizabeth Noonan

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  1. Ben Agate
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  2. Edik U. Rafailov
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  7. Shunhua Wang
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  8. Fredrik Laurell
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  9. Philip Battle
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Council Canada, Canada

    Siegfried Janz

  2. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic

    Jiri Ctyroky

  3. Vitesse Re-Skilling, Canada

    Stoyan Tanev

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Agate, B. et al. (2006). EFFICIENT FREQUENCY-DOUBLING OF FEMTOSECOND PULSES IN WAVEGUIDE AND BULK NONLINEAR CRYSTALS Design, fabrication, theory and experiment. In: Janz, S., Ctyroky, J., Tanev, S. (eds) Frontiers in Planar Lightwave Circuit Technology. NATO Science Series II: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, vol 216. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4167-5_08

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