Beta-Barium borate (or β-BaB2O4, β-BBO) crystal is one of the most eminent nonlinear optical crystals. BBO crystal manifests outstanding high nonlinear optical coefficients (the crystal has an effective frequency doubling coefficient 3-6 times larger than the current general ADP and KDP crystals in the near-infrared, visible, and ultraviolet bands. The high nonlinear coefficient of BBO crystals translates into superior frequency conversion efficiencies, resulting in the generation of high-power pulses with femtosecond durations and megawatt peak powers. A broad transmission range of 189-3500 nm (To see the transmission curve, click on the Resource tab) enables efficient conversion of frequencies across a broad wavelength range. The crystal also boasts an exception damage threshold (15Gw/cm2, twice higher than that of KDP), which allows it to withstand the intense optical fields associated with femtosecond pulses without suffering optical damage.
BBO crystals exhibit superior properties to KDP and ADP crystals in second harmonic generation (SHG) and third harmonic generation (THG) of ultrashort-pulse lasers. In the realm of femtosecond lasers, BBO crystals find a diverse range of utilities including the investigation of ultrafast processes such as chemical reactions, molecular dynamics, and carrier dynamics in semiconductors; medical imaging applications like two-photon microscopy; micromachining and material processing.
Hangzhou Shalom EO offers off-the-shelf and customized BBO crystals. The ultra-thin 0.01mm thickness with fused silica substrates and 0.05mm thickness free-standing BBO crystals optimized for femto-line lasers are available. All the crystals undergo rigorous inspection before despatch to ensure no visible scattering path or center is present within the crystals under the observation of a 50mW green laser. Astounding precision standard (better than 10/5 S/D surface quality) is leveraged to facilitate ultrashort pulse durations. We provide BBO crystals for the usages of :
Applications of BBO Crystals in the field of NLOs:
1. BBO for Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Harmonic Generation of Nd: YAG Lasers:
Exceptional conversion efficiencies could be achieved using BBO crystals, which are greater than 70% (SHG), 60% for THG, 50% for 4thHG. BBO crystal is the best option for 213nm 5HG.
BBO crystals excel in handling intracavity SHG of Nd:YAG lasers with high power densities to generate 532nm output. And 263nm output with a decent power level could be attained using a Brewster-angle-cut BBO crystal when pumping the Nd:YAG Laser with an SHG output of a mode-locked Nd:YLF laser.
Because of a small acceptance angle and large angular walk-off, good laser beam quality (small divergence, good mode condition, etc.) is the crucial factor for BBO to function better, tight focusing of laser beams is not suggested.
2. BBO for Harmonic Generations of Other Tunable Lasers:
For SHG and THG of ultra-fast Lasers, BBO also exhibits a great advantage over KDP and ADP crystals.
BBO crystal is an effective media for SHG of XeCl-laser pumped Dye lasers for producing output in the ultra-violet spectrum (205-310nm).
SHG/THG of Alexandrite Lasers UV output in the region 360nm-390 nm and output in the region 244nm - 259 nm. SHG/THG/FHG of Ti:Sapphire Lasers could also be realized efficiently.
Intracavity SHG of Argon Doped Lasers for UV and Deep-UV output, and SHG of Copper-Vapor Lasers for UV output.
3. BBO for Optical Parametric Oscillation (OPO)/Optical Parametric Amplification (OPA):
Utilizing BBO crystals for optical parametric oscillation(OPO) and parametric optical amplification (OPA), one could easily obtain tunable output in a broad wavelength range (from the UV to IR). Common applications include:
our BBO Crystals could support OPO output of 532nm pumped laser with decent conversion efficiencies.
Using Shalom EO’s BBO, OPO of 355nm Nd:YAG pumped lasers could produce a wide tunable approximate wavelength range from UV to the MWIR spectrum, with promising conversion efficiencies.
OPA of BBO crystals generates narrow-band, high power, and tunable (400 nm to 2000 nm) pulses for a pico-second Nd-YAG pumped laser. The approach is way better than using Dye Lasers in terms of efficiencies, tunable range, and maintenance.
The Tuning Angles of Type 1 and Type 2 OPO and OPA at 532nm, 355nm, and 266nm are collected and illustrated in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, respectively.
Fig.3 Type 1 BBO OPO Tuning Curves (@532/355/266nm) Fig.4 Type 2 BBO OPO Tuning Curves (@532/355/266nm)
4. BBO Crystals for EO applications:
BBO Crystals could be utilized for electro-optical modulations with their high laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) and wide transmission range from 190nm to 3500nm. BBO Crystals are excellent candidates for high-repetition-rate Q-switching. We provide BBO Crystals for EO applications that are high-precision laser-grade polished and coated Cr-Au electrodes.