Nonlinear crystals change a laser's colour: double it, halve it, or mix two wavelengths into a third. Beta barium borate — BBO — combines a broad transparency range with strong nonlinear behaviour, serving frequency doubling of common laser lines and optical parametric processes. In this manufacturer's catalogue, BBO is the evidenced crystal line: it holds its own product group (BBO Nonlinear Crystal) inside the crystals section, while the company's profile additionally names a wider laser crystal programme.
That profile names BBO and LBO nonlinear crystals, YVO4 and Nd:YVO4, LN wedge chips and KTP+Nd:YVO4 (DPM) devices as its laser crystal materials, alongside laser devices such as isolators, circulators and collimators. This page is deliberately narrower than that profile: it covers the BBO line that the product catalogue itself evidences, and buyers interested in the profile-named materials should raise them explicitly in the enquiry so the current availability of each can be confirmed for their specification rather than assumed.
Specifying a BBO Crystal
- Conversion process — doubling, mixing or parametric conversion, and the wavelengths in and out.
- Cut and orientation — the phase-matching geometry the process requires, if your design fixes it.
- Aperture and length — the beam size and the interaction length the conversion efficiency needs.
- Coating — AR coatings for the wavelengths in play, on both faces.
BBO crystal pricing follows dimensions, orientation and coating, so quotations are issued per specification in writing. State the laser wavelength and the conversion you need in the enquiry, and ask for orientation and size to be confirmed for the part in the quotation. For the optical components around the crystal — the mirrors, waveplates and expanders of the same laser system — the rest of this catalogue is one enquiry away.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which crystals are catalogued?
BBO holds a dedicated product group. The company profile also names LBO, YVO4, Nd:YVO4, LN and KTP+Nd:YVO4 devices — raise those in the enquiry so availability is confirmed for your specification.
What is BBO used for?
Laser frequency conversion: doubling and mixing wavelengths and optical parametric generation, in research and industrial laser systems.
What does the quotation need?
The wavelengths in and out, the conversion process, aperture and length, and coating requirements.
Handling BBO: The Practical Clauses
BBO handling belongs in the purchase conversation from the start. The crystal is mildly hygroscopic — it takes up moisture from humid air — so BBO elements are kept in dry storage and handled with gloves, and protective coatings or sealed mounts are part of the specification for service outside climate-controlled laboratories; a buyer in a humid environment should say so in the enquiry, and ask for the protective measures for that environment to be confirmed for the part in the quotation. The crystal is also comparatively soft and cleavable next to oxide workhorses like YVO4, so state in the enquiry whether the crystal will be handled by instrument assemblers or laser specialists, and whether it is to be supplied mounted or bare. Finally, the aperture decision: size the beam honestly — a crystal specified for a beam twice the real diameter adds aperture that converts light that never arrives. State the real beam, the environment and the mounting expectation, and the quotation is written against the service as stated.
Request a Quotation
Tell us the component, material, dimensions and coating you need. Pricing and lead time for your specification are confirmed in the written quotation.