Frequency conversion of cw chemical HF laser radiation in nonlinear crystals

A description is given of a cw chemical HF laser and its characteristics. The results are reported of investigations of the efficiency of conversion of the HF laser radiation into second harmonics and combination frequencies in LiNbO₃, LiIO₃, and Ag₃AsS₃ crystals. The most efficient conversion was achieved in proustite (Ag₃AsS₃) when the second-harmonic power was ~3μW and the fundamentalfrequency power was ~ 100 mW. Twenty-one emission lines were obtained in the 1.39–1.49 μ range. The HF laser radiation was converted to the visible range (0.522–0.516 μ).