An all solid-state UV source based on a frequency quadrupled, passively Q-switched 946 nm laser.

We report a 236 nm light source with 20 mW of average power based on critically phase-matched second-harmonic generation in a beta-barium borate crystal at room temperature. The fundamental light source was a passively Q-switched 946 nm Nd:YAG laser tunable from 10 - 38 kHz and with a pulse length of 16 ns. In the generation of 473 nm light, periodically poled KTP and BiBO was compared in terms of conversion efficiency and stability.

Fluorescence dynamics and rate equation analysis in Er3+ and Yb3+ doped double tungstates.

The fluorescence dynamics in Er3+ and Yb3+ doped KGd(WO4)2 and KY(WO4)2 has been investigated. Lifetimes have been measured for the Yb (2F(5/2)), Er (4I(13/2)), and Er (4S(3/2)) levels around 1, 1.5, and 0.

Modeling of energy-transfer upconversion and thermal effects in end-pumped quasi-three-level lasers.

An analytical model of cw quasi-three-level lasers that includes the influence of energy-transfer upconversion (ETU) has been developed. The results of the general output modeling were applied to a laser with Gaussian beams, and rigorous numerical calculations have been made to study the influence of ETU on threshold, output power, spatial distribution of population-inversion density, and fractional thermal loading. The model was applied to a laser operating at 946 nm in Nd:YAG, where the dependence of laser-beam size on laser performance was investigated in particular.