Second harmonic generation in the new nonlinear optical material BiB/sub 3/O/sub 6/

Summary form only given. The monoclinic BiB/sub 3/O/sub 6/ is a new nonlinear optical material. Recently, large BiB/sub 3/O/sub 6/ crystals have been grown with good optical quality. Meanwhile, the Sellmeier coefficients were published an calculations indicated the suitability for nonlinear applications. We report on an investigation of the properties of this material for frequency doubling (SHG) of e.g. Nd:YAG laser radiation (1064 nm). The 5 mm long crystal used in these investigations was cut in the y-z-plane. The two crystal facets were AR coated for 1064 nm and 532 nm. Important parameters for efficient SHG are the linear losses at 1064 nm and the effective nonlinearity. Both parameters were measured across the crystal´s aperture (of 3/spl times/3 mm) with a spatial resolution of 120 /spl mu/m. In addition, we determined the temperature and the angular acceptance bandwidth.