High-Power, Single-Frequency, Continuous-Wave Optical Parametric Oscillator Based on MgO:sPPLT

Quasi-phase-matched (QPM) nonlinear materials have had a profound impact on continuous-wave (cw) optical parametric oscillators (OPOs). In particular, the advent of periodically-poled LiNbO₃ (PPLN) has enabled the realization of novel cw OPOs for wavelength regions from ~1 mum to the absorption edge of the material near ~5 mum. For spectral generation below 1 mum, the use of PPLN is precluded by photorefractive damage, and so the development of practical cw OPOs for the visible to near-infrared (near-IR), particularly in high-power singly-resonant oscillator (SRO) configurations, necessitates the search for alternative QPM materials.