Abstract

We present a method to shift the emission band of tunable lasers to new spectral bands of interest. The method is based on active nonlinear frequency conversion taking place in a quasiphase matched self-frequency converted laser which uses an aperiodically poled ferroelectric nonlinear crystal doped with laser active ions. As an example, an active frequency converter for continuous-wave Ti:Sapphire tunable lasers is shown that produces tunable radiation between 440-475 nm and 485-505 nm. The device is based on self-sum-frequency mixing of the tunable emission of a Ti:Sapphire laser injected in the cavity of a diode-pumped aperiodically poled Nd³⁺ :LiNbO₃ laser oscillating in continuous-wave.

© 2002 Optical Society of America