Limitations of high-power visible wavelength periodically poled lithium niobate devices due to green-induced infrared absorption and thermal lensing

As nonlinear optics applications of periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) scale toward high average powers at visible wavelengths, absorption and thermal effects limit device performance. In second-harmonic generation (SHG) of 532-nm light using 53-mm length PPLN, self-focusing has been observed to limit the green output power to 2 W, with filamentation and sample failure occurring at 2.7 W. In this paper, we examine green-induced infrared absorption (GRIIRA) and thermal lensing in PPLN for 532-nm powers up to 2W, revealing the necessary improvements in this material that are required for high-power visible wavelength applications.