Second-harmonic generation in periodically poled bulk Rb-doped KTiOPO₄ below 400 nm at high peak-intensities

We demonstrate that bulk Rb-doped KTiOPO₄ (RKTP) shows improved susceptibility to gray-tracking compared to flux-grown KTiOPO₄ . We show high-fidelity periodic poling of 1 mm thick RKTP with a period of 3.18 µm for second harmonic generation at 398 nm with a normalized conversion efficiency of 1.79%/Wcm. The crystal is used to frequency-double 138 fs-long pulses with an efficiency of 20% and a peak intensity of 560 MW/cm² without visible gray-tracking signs. We demonstrate that two-photon absorption is the predominant mechanism limiting the SHG efficiency in this spectral range at high peak powers and high repetition rates.