FREQUENCY CONTROL OF A PULSED OPTICAL PARAMETRIC OSCILLATOR BY RADIATION INJECTION

Abstract
We have demonstrated a method of accurately controlling the spectral properties of a pulsed, singly resonant optical parametric oscillator. The resonated output of a ruby‐laser‐pumped LiNbO3 oscillator was ``locked'' to the frequency of radiation injected into a mode of the oscillator cavity by a single‐frequency cw Nd:YAG laser. Locking could be obtained if the peak of the oscillator gain curve was tuned to within 18 Å of the YAG wavelength. The minimum injected power required to ensure locking of the 100‐kW oscillator output was 1 μW.