FLUXLESS BETA-BARIUM BORATE

BBO HAS BEEN PROPOSED AS A PROMISING NONLINEAR OPTICAL MATERIAL FOR OPTICAL PARAMETRIC OSCILLATORS (OPO) AND MANY OTHER 3-WAVE MIXING APPLICATIONS. BBO OPOS PROVIDE THE MEANS TO PRODUCE BROADLY TUNABLE RADIATION FROM THE ULTRAVIOLET TO THE INFRARED. SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN THIS MATERIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND DEMONSTRATED OPO PERFORMANCE HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED USING CONVENTIONAL FLUX GROWN BBO. CLEVELAND CRYSTALS BELIEVES THAT BBO WOULD BE AN EXCELLENT MATERIAL CAPABLE OF MEETING THE SDIO'S INTEREST IN WIDE SPECTRAL RANGE SOURCES FOR SENSOR APPLICATIONS. SPECIFICALLY, A 266NM-PUMPED BBO OPO, WITH A BBO SECOND HARMONIC GENERATOR, SHOULD THEORETICALLY COVER A WAVELENGTH RANGE OF APPROXIMATELY 200-300NM. IF THE PUMP SOURCE WAS A DIODE-LASER PUMPED SOLID-STATE LASER SYSEM, THEN BBO WOULD FORM THE BASIS OF AND EFFICENCT, LIGHT WEIGHT, COMPACT, SPACE-BASED LASER SYSEM. A NEW OPPORTUNITY EXISTS TO DEVELOP BBO CRYSTALS USING A FLUXLESS GROWTH PROCESS. THIS PROCESS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO RADICALLY INCREASE THE GROWTH RATES FOR BBO CRYSTALS AND TO REMOVE FLUX INCLUSIONS, WHICH PRESENTLY LIMIT QUALITY. PHASE I WOULD BE PRIMARILY A GROWTH DEVELOPMENT EFFORT, CONCENTRATING ON INTENSIVE TESTING OF A MODIFIED FLUXLESS CZOCHRALSKI METHOD TO ACHIEVE HIGH QUALITY BETA-PHASE CCRYSTAL GROWTH. PHASE I WOULD ALSO INCLUDE CRYSAL TESTING AND OPO OPERATION.