Frequency Quadrupling | previous | next | feedback |
Definition: the phenomenon that an input laser beam generates a beam with four times the optical frequency
Frequency quadrupling is a process of nonlinear frequency conversion where the resulting optical frequency is four times that of the input laser beam, which means that the wavelength is reduced by a factor of 4. This can be accomplished with two sequential frequency doublers (Figure 1).
Figure 1: A typical configuration for frequency quadrupling: an infrared input beam at 1064 nm generates a green 532-nm wave in a first frequency doubler, and a second frequency doubler converts this to light at 266 nm.
A commonly used frequency quadrupling configuration begins with a continuous-wave or pulsed Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm for generating 532-nm light in a first frequency doubler stage (based e.g. on LBO) and then 266 nm in a second stage (based e.g. on CLBO). Such ultraviolet light is useful e.g. to pump a dye laser or an optical parametric oscillator, for Raman spectroscopy in flames, or for material processing, e.g. the writing of fiber Bragg gratings.
Bibliography
| [1] | J. Reintjes and R. C. Eckardt, "Efficient harmonic generation from 532 to 266 nm in ADP and KD*P", Appl. Phys. Lett. 30, 91 (1977) |
| [2] | D. Bruneau et al., "Fourth harmonic generation of a large-aperture Nd:glass laser", Appl. Opt. 24 (22), 3740 (1985) |
| [3] | B. A. Hooper et al., "Fourth-harmonic generation in a single lithium niobate-crystal with cascaded second-harmonic generation", Appl. Opt. 33 (30), 6980 (1994) |
| [4] | M. Oka et al., "All solid state continuous-wave frequency-quadrupled Nd:YAG laser", IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. 1, 859 (1995) |
| [5] | J. Knittel and A. H. Kung, "Fourth harmonic generation in a resonant ring cavity", IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 33 (11), 2021 (1997) |
| [6] | T. Kojima et al., "20-W ultraviolet-beam generation by fourth-harmonic generation of an all-solid-state laser", Opt. Lett. 25 (1), 58 (2000) |
| [7] | T. Südmeyer et al., "Efficient 2nd and 4th harmonic generation of a single-frequency, continuous-wave fiber amplifier", Opt. Express 16 (3), 1546 (2008) |
See also: frequency doubling, frequency tripling, nonlinear frequency conversion, ultraviolet lasers
