532 NM PUMPED OPTICAL PARAMETRIC OSCILLATOR IN BULK PERIODICALLY POLED LITHIUM-NIOBATE

We report a quasi-phase-matched optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pu mped by the second harmonic of a single frequency e-switched Nd:YAG la ser. Both the frequency doubling to 532 nm and the parametric oscillat ion are performed in periodically poled lithium niobate crystals with a nonlinearity of similar to 15 pmn/V. The OPO has been operated in '' singly resonant'' and ''doubly resonant'' configurations. The threshol d in the singly resonant case was similar to 0.14 J/cm(2), more than o ne order of magnitude below the damage limit. OPO tuning from 945 to 1 225 nm was achieved by changing both the period of domain reversal (fr om 6.8 to 6.85 mu m) and the temperature of the crystal. (C) 1995 Amer ican Institute of Physics.