Low threshold optical parametric oscillation and third harmonic generation in the new nonlinear optical material BiB/sub 3/O/sub 6/

Summary form only given. We report on a type I (o /spl rarr/ ee) BIBO OPO pumped by 532 nm ns laser pulses. We also investigated the generation of third harmonic 355 nm UV radiation. Frequency tripling in BIBO is of interest since the short wavelength transmission limit at 286 nm is significantly shorter than that of KTP (350 nm). The OPO was excited by the second harmonic of a Q-switched Nd:YVO/sub 4/ laser system that generates 6 ns long 1064 nm pulses at a repetition rate of 10 kHz with an average power of 6 W. The BIBO OPO consisted of a 11 mm long crystal (aperture size: 2.4 /spl times/ 2.9 mm/sup 2/) and a resonator of two plane mirrors with reflectivities for the signal wave of 99% and 70-94%, respectively. The performance of the BIBO OPO was compared with similar OPOs of KTP and LBO. This comparison indicates that the BIBO OPO generated the highest output power. In addition the energy density at threshold was 5 and 17 times lower than those of the KTP and the LBO OPO, respectively.