TUNABLE SINGLE FREQUENCY SOLID-STATE LASER TRANSMITTER

THE RECENT DEMONSTRATION AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY OF NONLINEARCONVERSION EFFICIENCIES GREATER THAN 50% USING A CW SINGLE FREQUENCY LASER ENCOURAGES A FRESH LOOK AT OPTICAL PARAMETRIC OSCILLATORS. TWO KEY BREAKTHROUGHS CONTRIBUTED TO THESE SIGNIFICANT RESULTS: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SINGLE FREQUENCY DIODE-PUMPED SOLID-STATE LASER AND THE DEVELOPMENTOF VERY GOOD OPTICAL QUALITY NONLINEAR CRYSTALS. THE SINGLEFREQUENCY LASER AND THE LOW LOSS CRYSTAL MAKE IT STRAIGHT FORWARD TO USE THE TECHNIQUE OF EXTERNAL RESONANT ENHANCEMENT TO OBTAIN LARGE CONVERSION EFFICIENCIES EVEN AT VERY LOW CW POWER LEVELS. THIS PROPOSAL IS FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ON AN ALL SOLID-STATE SINGLE FREQUENCY TUNABLE LASER SOURCE BASED UPON THESE EXTERNAL RESONANT ENHANCEMENT TECHNIQUES.