Multicrystal, continuous-wave, single-pass second-harmonic generation with 56% efficiency

We report a simple and compact implementation for single-pass second-harmonic-generation (SP-SHG) of cw laser radiation, based on a cascaded multicrystal (MC) scheme, that can provide the highest conversion efficiency at any given fundamental power. By deploying a suitable number of identical 30-mm-long MgO:sPPLT crystals in a cascade and a 30 W cw Yb-fiber laser at 1064 nm as the fundamental source, we demonstrate SP-SHG into the green with a conversion efficiency as high as 56% in the low-power as well as the high-power regime, providing 5.6 W of green output for 10 W and 13 W of green output for 25.1 W of input pump power. The MC scheme permits substantial increase in cw SP-SHG efficiency compared to the conventional single-crystal scheme without compromising performance with regard to power stability and beam quality. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America