Long-term operation of CsLiB/sub 6/O/sub 10/ crystal in fourth-harmonic generation of Nd:YAG laser

Summary form only given. Long-term operation of fourth-harmonic generation by CLBO was evaluated by two types of lasers. One type of laser produces a high peak power beam at low repetition rate, and the other type of laser produces low peak power but can run at a high repetition rate. Using the high peak power laser, more than 1000 h of stable operation was observed. A group of microdamages resembling the incident beam was observed at the back surface of the CLBO, and the small decrease in output was attributed to it. The microdamage study showed that ion beam etching of CLBO surface was effective in avoiding the damage. When the etching depth was, e.g., 250 /spl Aring/ no power decrease, and no group of microdamages was recognized at the end of test (after 160 h operation).