Intracavity Frequency Doubling and Difference Frequency Mixing for Pulsed ns Ti:Sapphire Laser Systems at On-Line Radioactive Ion Beam Facilities

Abstract

Intra-cavity second harmonic generation of a Titanium:sapphire (Ti:sa) laser system has been used to improve the conversion efficiency to the second harmonic. Over the course of several experiments performance data spanning the whole wavelength range of a Ti:sa has been collected, which may be used as a guideline for future experiments. An average output power of up to 3.7 W was achieved, resulting in a conversion efficiency of >75 % to the second harmonic. A wavelength coverage from 340-525 nm has been demonstrated. To extend the wavelength range of the solid state laser system, difference frequency mixing has been applied to the intra-cavity doubled light and the fundamental output of a second Ti:sa laser. Up to 30 mW of yellow light at the sodium D2 line at 589 nm was generated. Based on numerical calculations this output power could still be improved by a factor of ten with simple changes in the experimental setup. Laser spectroscopy and measurement of the saturation behaviour has been carried out on an atomic beam of stable sodium.

Characterization of a pulsed injection-locked Ti:sapphire laser and its application to high resolution resonance ionization spectroscopy of copper

“…The UV power can easily be adjusted by rotating the polarization state of one of the input beams to the frequency-tripling crystal. For the second step excitation an intra-cavity frequency-doubled broadband Ti:sapphire [28,29] was employed with 0.8 W power at the interaction region. The spot size of the blue laser was ≈ 0.5 cm 2 , yielding 1.6 W/cm 2 .…”

Gas cell studies of thorium using filament dispensers at IGISOL

“…In order to generate the UV light of the first step, two approaches were implemented. Intra-cavity second harmonic generation (SHG) was used for high output power [46] and a single-pass external SHG station was preferred when wavelength scanning was required. The first step Ti:sa laser was pumped separately with its own Neodymium YAG (Nd:YAG) laser, which gave independent control over the timing of the first step laser pulses.…”

First laser ions at the CERN-MEDICIS facility

“…For the measurement, one standard "Z" cavity Ti:Sapphire laser was used, pumped by 8 W of output power from an InnoLas Nanio 532-18-Y laser. The required 406-nm laser light was produced via intra-cavity frequency doubling [26], providing up to 1.1 W of output power. The transport efficiency of the optical path was measured to be approximately 70% from the laser lab to the entrance window of the mass separator.…”