BETA-BARIUM BORATE GROWTH AND TESTING

BETA-BARIUM BORATE (BBO) IS BEING INVESTIGATED AS A PROMISING NONLINEAR OPTICAL MATERIAL, SUITABLE FOR OPTICAL PARAMETRIC OSCILLATORS (OPO). BBO OPO'S COULD PROVIDE THE MEANS TO PRODUCE A CONTINUUM OF BROADLY TUNABLE RADIATION FROM THE ULTRAVIOLET (UV) INTO THE INFRARED (IR). SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN ITS MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION AND DEMONSTRATED OPO PERFORMANCE HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. BBO IS EXPECTED TO BE AN EXCELLENT MATERIAL FOR BROADBAND SENSOR APPLICATIONS. 0.226 MICROSECOND PUMPED BBO OPO, WITH A BBO SECOND HARMONIC GENERATOR (SHG), SHOULD THEORETICALLY COVER THE WAVELENGTH RANGE FROM APPROXIMATELY 0.2 TO 3.0 MICRO-SECONDS. A BBO OPO DRIVEN BY A DIODE-LASERPUMPED SOLID-STATE LASER SYSTEM, WOULD FORM THE BASIS FOR ANEFFICIENT, LIGHTWEIGHT, COMPACT, SPACE-BASED LASER SYSTEM. WHILE BBO HAS EXCELLENT NONLINEAR AND LINEAR OPTICAL PROPERTIES, IT IS RELATIVELY UNDEVELOPED AT PRESENT. IN THIS PRIMARILY GROWTH DEVELOPMENT EFFORT, CONCENTRATION IS ON INTENSIVE QUALITY SINGLE CRYSTAL GROWTH. THIS GROWTH EFFORT WOULD BE EXTENDED INTO FURTHER RESEARCH, WHICH WOULD ALSO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF AN INTERMEDIATE POWER OPO BASED ON BBO. THE BBO OPO, AS A SOURCE OF INTERMEDIATE POWER, FREQUENCY AGILE, LASER RADIATION IN THE NEAR IR, VIS AND UV, WOULD BE USEFUL FOR MANY LASER APPLICATIONS IN THE FIELDS OF REMOTE LASER INDUCED EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY MEDICINE, MATERIALS PROCESSING, NONLINEAR OPTICS, LIDAR, REMOTE SENSING AND PHOTOCHEMISTRY. COMMERCIALLY, IT WOULD BE COMPETITIVE WITH DYE LASERS AND TUNE OVER LARGER FREQUENCY RANGES.