Efficient second harmonic generation in beta-barium borate by a diffraction-limited copper vapor laser

The diffraction-limited beam of a copper vapor laser employing a self-filtering unstable resonator was used to induce second harmonic generation in a nonlinear crystal of beta-barium borate. Despite the moderate emission characteristics of our small-scale laser device (1.5-W average power, 25-kW peak power at 511 nm), we obtained average and peak power conversion efficiencies of approximately 20 and 30%, respectively, which improved on the previously reported results by a factor of 2.