An all solid-state UV source based on a frequency quadrupled, passively Q-switched 946 nm laser

Abstract

We report a 236 nm light source with 20 mW of average power based on critically phase-matched second-harmonic generation in a beta-barium borate crystal at room temperature. The fundamental light source was a passively Q-switched 946 nm Nd:YAG laser tunable from 10 - 38 kHz and with a pulse length of 16 ns. In the generation of 473 nm light, periodically poled KTP and BiBO was compared in terms of conversion efficiency and stability.