The self-doubling and summing lasers: overview and modeling

We present an overview of the self-frequency doubling and summing lasers an d we give the main optical and spectroscopic properties of the materials us ed in these devices. We describe a new self-doubling laser model (four and quasi-three level lasers) leading to a comparison of the different crystals (Nd;doped LNB, YAB, BNN; GdCOB and Yb-doped LNB, YAB, GdCOB) and to useful predictions on the choice of important parameters as the dopant concentrat ion and the crystal length. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reser ved.