10 kHz, 5kW air-cooled OPO eye-safe laser

A highly repetitive eye-safe laser for laser radar applications has been developed. It converts the wavelength of a laser diode pumped Q switch Nd :YVO 4 laser to a wavelength of 1,573 nm through optical parametric oscillation using a potassium titanyl phosphate crystal. It offers a pulse peak power of 5 kW, with a pulse width of 10.5 ns, at a pulse repetition frequency of 10 kHz. Decrease of its power at ambient temperatures of -20°C to +50°C did not exceed 14%. No degradation of performance was observed after a vibration test conducted at 14 to 200 Hz with an acceleration of 2 G.