Evaluation of LiB3O5 for second-harmonic generation of femtosecond optical pulses

Abstract

The optical characteristics of the new nonlinear crystal lithium triborate (LiB3O5) are evaluated for second-harmonic generation (SHG) in the femtosecond regime. Using crystals grown in our laboratory, we demonstrate the use of LiB3O5 for autocorrelation measurements of ultrashort optical pulses. We find that pulse widths down to 40 fs can be measured accurately with crystal thicknesses varying from 0.195 to 4.165 mm. The effect of crystal length on the autocorrelation shape is also investigated.