Demonstration of a second-harmonic powder laser

We demonstrate second-harmonic generation in a mixture of powders of laser [Nd0.5La0.5Al3(BO3)(4)] and frequency-doubling (2-methyl-4-nitroaniline) (MNA) materials. We quantitatively describe short-spike 1.06-mu m stimulated emission and its second harmonic with the model accounting for the population inversion and the energy density of 1.06-mu m and 0.53-mu m radiation in the pumped volume. The experimental results are in a good agreement with the model predictions. The optimum MNA concentration was shown to be dependent on the pumping energy. The determined optimum nonlinear coefficient in (pulverized) nonlinear material was shown to be 10(2)-10(3) times larger than that in MNA. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America. [S0740-3224(98)01510-0]. OCIS codes: 140.3580; 300.2140; 160.0160.