Ultra-high-speed pumping of an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) for high-speed laser-induced fluorescence measurements

The feasibility of pumping an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) with an ultra-high repetition rate multi:YAG laser system, producing a burst of up to eight high-energy pulses, has been investigated. For this investigation an OPO with a bandwidth around 5 cm(-1), together with a frequency doubling crystal, was selected. In some laser-induced fluorescence measurements the large linewidth from the OPO can be advantageous as several lines can be excited simultaneously avoiding the saturation effects of individual lines. The energy output from the OPO as a function of pulse separation was measured down to pulse separations of 400 ns and was found to be completely independent of the pulse separation. The efficiency of the OPO unit, when optimized for single-pulse operation, was measured to be around 25% for all pulses, giving over 80 mJ at 585 nm output when pumped with similar to 350 mJ at 355 nm. This is similar to the specified efficiency for the OPO. The system was found to give a slightly lower efficiency when double pulsing the Nd:YAG lasers. This is attributed to a somewhat elongated pulse length from the Nd:YAG lasers giving a lower pump energy density. The system was applied for measuring high-speed planar laser-induced fluorescence images of OH radicals in a Bunsen burner.