Large aperture and non-critical phase-matched fourth harmonic generation of Nd:Glass lasers

Abstract

A fourth harmonic generation (FHG) scheme in focusing beams is proposed and demonstrated for large aperture Nd:glass laser facilities. By placing the focusing lens before the FHG crystal, the problem of ultraviolet damage can be overcome, largely without affecting FHG conversion efficiency owing to the large angular acceptance of the non-critical phase matching technique. A numerical simulation of the FHG process indicates that angular acceptance can be appropriately increased by lowering the working temperature and jointing the two adjacent compensating angles, so that FHG in focusing beams with relatively small F numbers becomes feasible. With a 170 mm × 170 mm × 7 mm and 65% deuterated potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystal mounted in a high-precision, temperature-controlled system, high-efficiency FHG has been demonstrated in the focusing beam with a full beam convergence angle of 36 mrad. When driven with a 223 J, second harmonic radiation (2ω), 1 ns flat-top pulse with a beam area of 130 cm2, corresponding to 1.7 GW/cm2 2ω input intensity, 182 J of fourth harmonic radiation (4ω) were generated.