Patent ID: 7852549

Claim:
An apparatus for producing coherent, pulsed ultraviolet light with pulse durations that range between 1 ps and 1 μs, the apparatus comprising: one or more source lasers with light output in the visible or near-infrared frequency range; and one or more frequency conversion stages, at least one of the one or more frequency conversion stages including a nonlinear critically phase-matched frequency conversion device and one or more optical elements including: a reflector, a focusing element, a polarization-controlling optic, a wavelength separator, or a fiber optic component; wherein the nonlinear critically phase-matched frequency conversion device includes a huntite-type aluminum double borate nonlinear optical material configured to produce frequency-converted light having a wavelength between 190 and 350 nm, the huntite-type aluminum double borate nonlinear optical material having a composition given by RAl 3 B 4 O 12 , where R comprises one or a plurality of elements {Sc, La, Y, Lu}, and is characterized by an optical transmission greater than 75% over the wavelength range of 190 to 350 nm.