49 mW of cw blue light generated by first-order quasi-phase-matched frequency doubling of a diode-pumped 946-nm Nd:YAG laser

Abstract

We report highly efficient blue-light generation by frequency doubling of a high-power cw diode-pumped 946-nm Nd:YAG laser. A periodically poled lithium niobate crystal, 6 mm long and with a period of 4.6 μm, was used in the experiment. 49 mW of blue light was generated with a conversion efficiency of 4.6%. The measured effective nonlinear coefficient (d_eff ~ 19 pm/V) and the temperature–bandwidth (ΔT ~ 3 °C) of the crystal are close to the theoretical limits.