ABSTRACT
In designing a practical optical parametric generation (OPG)/optical parametric amplification (OPA) device, the following steps are encountered: selection of the nonlinear crystal, selection of the pump source, and selection of configuration of the system. A nonlinear crystal is suitable for an OPG/OPA system if it possess the following qualities: phase-matchable in the desired tuning range either by angle or temperature tuning; possessing sufficiently large nonlinearity and high laser damage threshold; having small absorption and scattering loss at both pump and signal frequencies; and chemically stable in the working environment. Among the available nonlinear optical crystals, ß-barium metaborate and lithium triborate are most suitable for OPG/OPA to generate tunable output in the visible and near UV. OPG operates on amplification from spontaneous emission. The chapter considers OPG/OPA system which is capable of delivering high-energy tunable output pulses.
