We report on the generation of picosecond deep ultraviolet pulses at 257.5 nm and 206 nm produced as the fourth and fifth harmonic frequencies of the diode-pumped Yb:YAG thin-disk laser at the fundamental wavelength of 1030 nm. We present a proposal for a picosecond pulse mid-IR source tunable between 2 and 3 μm. The laser at the fundamental wavelength is based on a chirped-pulse amplification of pulses of a sub-ps laser oscillator in a regenerative amplifier with a thin-disk active medium. The diode pumping at the zero phonon line is used. The output beam is close to the fundamental spatial mode and the pulses are characterized by a 100 kHz repetition frequency, less than 4 ps pulse duration and ≤1 mJ pulse energy. The fundamental beam is split and the main part is first frequency doubled in an LBO crystal. Subsequently the fourth harmonic frequency (257.5 nm) is produced by frequency doubling of the second harmonic frequency in BBO/CLBO crystals. The remaining part of the fundamental beam is summed with the fourth harmonic beam in the 1ω+4ω quantum reaction in a further CLBO crystal for the fifth harmonic frequency (206 nm) production. The design for the generation of the mid-IR wavelengths is based on the optical parametric generation and amplification. The first stage contains a temperature tuned PPLN, the following amplification stages are based on KTA crystals tuned by angle. Picosecond output pulses tunable between 2 and 3 μm at an average power of 10 W are proposed.

Date Published: 27 April 2016
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 9893, Laser Sources and Applications III, 989302 (27 April 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2227124

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9893:
Laser Sources and Applications III
Jacob I. Mackenzie; Helena JelÍnková; Takunori Taira; Marwan Abdou Ahmed, Editor(s)