This proposed research effort program will enable new sources of laser radiation from the near uv through the mid-IR. This will be accomplished by growth and characterization of large high-quality stoichiometric lithium tantalate crystals and demonstration of the superior performance of these crystals in nonlinear optical frequency conversion of well established laser sources via quasi-phase matching.
Keywords: lithium tantalate, lithium niobate, crystal growth, stoichiometry, periodic poling, quasi-phase matching, nonlinear optic, ferroelectrics
