High-repetition-rate, high-peak-power, linear-polarized 473 nm Nd:YAG/BiBO blue laser by extracavity frequency doubling

Abstract

We report on a high-repetition-rate, high-peak-power, linear-polarized 473 nm blue laser. A high-power 946 nm fundamental laser was obtained based on a diode-pumped acousto-optically (AO) Q-switched Nd:YAG laser using a thermal-compensating resonator and a microchannel heat sink for thermal dissipation. A pulsed 473 nm laser was generated using a BiB(3)O(6) (BiBO) crystal as an extracavity frequency doubler. The highest peak power of a 16.7 kW blue laser was obtained at a pulse repetition rate of 10 kHz with a pulse width of 9 ns. Stable operation of the pulsed blue laser can even reach 50 kHz.