BBO Nonlinear Crystal
OVERVIEW
β-BBO Nonlinear Crystal—a widely used nonlinear crystal for frequency conversion in the ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared
BBO is a negative uniaxial crystal, which provides phase matching for various second-order interactions almost over its entire transparency range (from 185 nm to 3.3 µm, as deduced from the transmittance measurements using crystal samples of several mm thickness), making it a widely used crystal for nonlinear frequency conversion in the ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared. In that regard, BBO is the most important nonlinear crystal for near infrared optical parametric chirped pulse amplifiers, which currently deliver few optical cycle pulses with high average and ultrahigh peak powers.
As one of the most important nonlinear optical crystals, beta-barium borate (β-BaB2O4，β-BBO) combines many outstanding features such as its high nonlinear optical coefficients, low group-velocity dispersion, broad transparency range (189–3500 nm) and high damage threshold. This unique combination ensures β-BBO crystal a promising candidate for a wide range of nonlinear optical applications such as frequency converters and optical parametric oscillators. In the realm of quantum optics, β-BBO crystal can be used to generate entangled photon pairs and ten-photon entanglement.
SPECIFICATION
- Crystal Type: BBO (Beta Barium Borate)
- Phase Mathcing Type: Not Applicable
- Mounting: Unmounted
- Width: 3 mm
- Height: 3 mm
- Length: 20 mm
- Flatness: <= Lambda/10
- Surface Quality (Scratch-Dig): 20-10
- AR Coating: One side
- Chemical Formula: BaB2O4
- Damage Threshold At 0.532 μm: 1 GW/cm2 (10 ns); 7 GW/cm2 (250 ps)
- Thermal Conductivity: 1.2 W/m/K (⊥c); 1.6 W/m/K (//c)
- Thermal Expansion Coefficient: α,4×10-6/K; c,36×10-6/K
- Transparency Range: 189 – 3500 nm
- SHG Phase Matchable Range: 409.6 ∼ 3500nm (Type I); 525 ∼ 3500nm (TypeII)
- NLO Coefficients: deff(I)=d31sinθ+ (d11cos3φ – d22sin3φ)cosθ,deff(II)=(d11sin3φ+ d22cos3θ)cos2θ
- Therm-Optic Coefficients: dno/dT = – 9.3 x 10-6/◦C,dne/dT = -16.6 x 10-6/◦C
- Half-Wave Voltage: 48 KV (at 1064 nm)
- Damage Threshold At 1.064 μm: 5 GW/cm2 (10 ns); 10 GW/cm2 (1.3 ns)
Applications
Material Processing
Optical Communication
Radar and Ranging
Medical Applications
KEY FEATURES
The range of transmission is from 190 nm to 3500nm
Good physical properties
Appropriate mechanical properties
Effective SHG(Second-harmonic generation) coefficient is large
Damage threshold of 100 ps pulse with 10 J/cm2 at 1064 nm
The range of phase matching is large from 409.6 nm to 3500nm
Temperature bandwidth is about 55℃
Optical homogeneity is high:δn≈10-6/cm