Patent ID: 8755417

Claim:
A method for producing light energy, comprising: generating a first fundamental frequency laser energy at a wavelength of from about 1,100 nanometers to about 1,110 nanometers, shifting the first fundamental frequency laser energy to a second fundamental laser energy with a wavelength of from about 1,160 nanometers to about 1,170 nanometers, in a first stage, combining portions of the second fundamental frequency laser energy to produce a second harmonic frequency laser energy, in a second stage, combining a portion of the second fundamental frequency laser energy and a portion of the second harmonic frequency laser energy to produce a third harmonic frequency laser energy, in a third stage, combining a portion of the second harmonic frequency laser energy and the third harmonic frequency laser energy to produce a fifth harmonic frequency laser energy using non-critical phase-matching in a CLBO crystal, and in a fourth stage, combining a portion of the second fundamental frequency laser energy and the fifth harmonic frequency laser energy to produce a sixth harmonic frequency laser energy using a CLBO crystal, wherein, the first fundamental frequency laser energy is generated by a fiber laser, the shifting uses a Raman fiber, the combining of the first stage is accomplished using at least one of a BBO crystal, a CBO crystal, a LBO crystal, a CLBO crystal, and a periodically-polled material, and the sixth harmonic frequency laser energy has a wavelength that is less than about two hundred nanometers.