Advances in mid-IR nonlinear optical materials for frequency conversion

BAE Systems has been a leader in the development of nonlinear optical materials used for frequency conversion into the 3-12 micron range since the 1990s. This talk will examine improvements and limitations of the birefringent crystals ZnGeP2 (ZGP) and CdSiP2 (CSP), as well as all-epitaxial processing of orientation-patterned semiconductors GaAs (OP-GaAs) and GaP (OP-GaP). Progress being made in the production of newer sulfide and selenide based birefringent crystals such as BaGa4Se7 (BGSe) will also be addressed.