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sparkle_pony
- 24
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I've heard of frequency doubling but is wavelength doubling a thing? If so, how efficient?
A wavelength doubling laser is a type of laser that uses a nonlinear crystal to convert the input laser beam from one wavelength to a shorter wavelength. This process is known as second harmonic generation and results in the production of a new laser beam with twice the frequency and half the wavelength of the original beam.
A wavelength doubling laser works by focusing a laser beam into a nonlinear crystal, typically made of materials like lithium niobate or potassium titanyl phosphate. The intense electric field of the laser beam causes the electrons in the crystal to vibrate at double the frequency, resulting in the production of a new laser beam with a shorter wavelength.
Wavelength doubling lasers have a wide range of applications, including laser spectroscopy, optical communications, and laser-based medical procedures. They are also commonly used in laser printers, barcode scanners, and laser pointers.
One of the main advantages of wavelength doubling lasers is the ability to produce laser beams with shorter wavelengths, which have higher energy and can be focused to a smaller spot size. This makes them useful for applications that require high precision and high energy, such as laser micromachining and laser surgery.
One limitation of wavelength doubling lasers is that they require a high-intensity laser beam as the input, which can be expensive and difficult to produce. Additionally, the efficiency of the conversion process is not 100%, so there will be some loss of energy during the wavelength doubling process.