Mid-infrared sources using dye lasers in KTiOAsO4 and KIO3

A coherent infrared source tunable from 3.4 to 5.3 um has been constructed by difference-frequency mixing of the second harmonic of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser and a pulsed dye laser using the new crystal KTA. A peak power of >50kW and pulse energy of >250uJ are measured at 4.4 μm. The results are compared with mixing in LiIO3. For a low-power Nd:YAG laser that produces 200 mJ of 532 nm radiation, the infrared power is similar for the two crystals. For high-power YAG lasers, calculation shows that commercial KTA crystals can produce over 10 mJ of IR power in the absence of absorption loss. The laser damage threshold of KTA at 532 nm is determined to be 300+/-30MW/CM(2). Both the maximum IR power and the damage threshold are several times higher for KTA than for LiIO3. A simple frequency calibration method is described. copyright 1996 Society for Applied Spectroscopy