Beta Barium Borate (BBO)
BBO offers broad transparency and phase matching angles. Both type I and type II phase matching can be achieved by angle tuning. BBO crystal has large nonlinear coefficient, high homogeneity and high damage threshold. This makes it an attractive nonlinear crystal for a variety of applications from generating green light to the fifth harmonic at 213 nm from Nd:YVO4 and Nd:YAG lasers. The advantage of BBO crystal is that it is the only crystal that can generate up to the fifth harmonics of Nd:YVO4 and Nd:YAG lasers. BBO can also be used in the UV region for Ti:Saphire and Alexandrite lasers in harmonic generation application. The application includes second, third and fourth harmonic generation of Ti:Saphire lasers and third harmonic generation of Alexandrite lasers.
For OPO and OPA applications, both type I and type II phase matching can be used in BBO crystals. Type I offers greater tuning range and larger parametric rate than type II. Type II gives narrower bandwidth of output than type I.
ITI offers high quality BBO crystals with low susceptibility to moisture for a longer shelf lifetime. We can custom make any cut according to your specifications or we can recommend a cut for your particular application. Please note that we would recommend the BBO crystals be coated right after fabrication to prevent damages from moisture. ITI offers all types of high damage threshold coatings, including anti-reflective coatings, high-reflective coatings and protective coatings.
ITI Electro-Optics Corp., 11500 Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064. Tel: 310-312-4526; Fax: 310-479-0401.