The effects of optical absorption in Ba2NaNb5O15 on internal frequency-doubled operation of Nd : YAG

Abstract
Absorption loss in barium sodium niobate (BSN) crystals at both the 1.064-μm fundamental and 0.532-μm SH wavelengths perturbs the SHG phase-matching condition, thereby coupling the circulating and SH power with the nonlinear loss. Discrete transitions in circulating power, hysteresis in the intracavity SHG temperature phase-matching signature, and bistable operation are the direct result of this absorption loss. Extensive analytical and experimental results were obtained and are reported.