LBO Crystal
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LBO (LiB3O5) Nonlinear Crystal for High-Power SHG and THG, 160–2600 nm

WQ-NLC-LBO
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Lithium triborate (LiB3O5, LBO) is an orthorhombic nonlinear crystal widely used for second harmonic generation of high-power 1064 nm lasers and for sum-frequency generation to 355 nm. It transmits from 160 nm to 2600 nm, supports Type I and Type II phase matching including non-critical phase matching (NCPM), and combines a high damage threshold with wide acceptance angle and small walk-off. LBO is also used in OPOs and OPAs pumped by the harmonics of Nd:YAG lasers or by 308 nm excimer lasers.

Key Features

  • Transparency range 160–2600 nm
  • Effective SHG coefficient about 3 times that of KDP
  • Optical homogeneity δn ≈ 10⁻⁶ /cm, free of inclusions
  • Damage threshold above 10 GW/cm² at 1064 nm, 10 ns, 10 Hz (polished, uncoated)
  • Small walk-off: 0.60° (Type I) and 0.12° (Type II) for 1064 nm SHG
  • Wide angular acceptance: 6.54 mrad·cm (Type I) and 15.27 mrad·cm (Type II) for 1064 nm SHG
  • Type I and Type II NCPM over a wide wavelength range, with spectral NCPM near 1300 nm
  • Low susceptibility to moisture; dry conditions are recommended for use and storage

Typical Applications

  • SHG of high-power pulsed and CW Nd:YAG and Nd:YLF lasers
  • Third harmonic generation (SFG) of Nd:YAG lasers to 355 nm
  • Frequency doubling of Ti:sapphire lasers in the 700–900 nm range
  • OPOs and OPAs pumped at 532 nm, 355 nm or 308 nm, including temperature-tuned NCPM designs
  • Sum-frequency generation into the VUV (187.7 nm reported)

Standard Sizes

Size Cut / orientation Surface / coating Mount
3 × 3 × 30 mm θ = 90°, φ = 0° AR/AR @ 1530–1580 nm + 765–790 nm Unmounted
5 × 5 × 5 mm θ = 90°, φ = 12.9°, Type I AR/AR @ 1040 + 520 nm Unmounted
5 × 5 × 3 mm θ = 90°, φ = 14.6°, Type I AR/AR @ 1014.4 + 507.4 nm Unmounted
5 × 5 × 5 mm θ = 90°, φ = 14.6°, Type I AR/AR @ 1014.4 + 507.4 nm Unmounted

Availability of individual sizes changes; custom sizes, cut angles and coatings are available on request.

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Browse all: Visible and NIR Nonlinear Crystals · Nonlinear Crystals

Model: WQ-NLC-LBO · Custom sizes, orientations and coatings on request — contact WaveQuanta for a quote and lead time.

Chemical Formula LiB3O5
Crystal Structure Orthorhombic, space group Pna21, point group mm2
Lattice Parameters a = 8.4473 Å, b = 7.3788 Å, c = 5.1395 Å, Z = 2
Melting Point About 834 °C
Mohs Hardness 6
Density 2.47 g/cm³
Thermal Expansion Coefficients αx = 10.8 × 10⁻⁵ /K, αy = −8.8 × 10⁻⁵ /K, αz = 3.4 × 10⁻⁵ /K
Thermal Conductivity 3.5 W/m/K
Transparency Range 160–2600 nm
SHG Phase-Matching Range 551–2600 nm (Type I); 790–2150 nm (Type II)
Thermo-Optic Coefficients (λ in µm) dnx/dT = −9.3 × 10⁻⁶ /°C; dny/dT = −13.6 × 10⁻⁶ /°C; dnz/dT = (−6.3 − 2.1λ) × 10⁻⁶ /°C
Absorption Coefficients < 0.1%/cm at 1064 nm; < 0.3%/cm at 532 nm
Angular Acceptance 6.54 mrad·cm (φ, Type I, 1064 nm SHG); 15.27 mrad·cm (θ, Type II, 1064 nm SHG)
Temperature Acceptance 4.7 °C·cm (Type I, 1064 nm SHG); 7.5 °C·cm (Type II, 1064 nm SHG)
Spectral Acceptance 1.0 nm·cm (Type I, 1064 nm SHG); 1.3 nm·cm (Type II, 1064 nm SHG)
Walk-off Angle 0.60° (Type I, 1064 nm SHG); 0.12° (Type II, 1064 nm SHG)
Effective SHG Coefficient About 3 × KDP
Optical Homogeneity δn ≈ 10⁻⁶ /cm
Dimension Tolerance (W ± 0.1 mm) × (H ± 0.1 mm) × (L +0.5/−0.1 mm) for L ≥ 2.5 mm; (W ± 0.1 mm) × (H ± 0.1 mm) × (L ± 0.1 mm) for L < 2.5 mm
Clear Aperture Central 90% of the diameter; no visible scattering paths or centers under 50 mW green laser inspection
Flatness < λ/8 @ 633 nm
Transmitted Wavefront Distortion < λ/8 @ 633 nm
Scratch/Dig 10/5 per MIL-PRF-13830B
Parallelism Better than 20 arcsec
Perpendicularity ≤ 5 arcmin
Chamfer / Chip ≤ 0.2 mm × 45° / ≤ 0.1 mm
Angle Tolerance Δθ ≤ 0.25°, Δφ ≤ 0.25°
Damage Threshold > 10 GW/cm² at 1064 nm, TEM00, 10 ns, 10 Hz (polished only); > 1 GW/cm² at 1064 nm (AR-coated); > 0.5 GW/cm² at 532 nm (AR-coated)
Specification Sheet PDF — Download
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Product Family: Visible and NIR Nonlinear Crystals (3 variants)

Product ▴▾ SKU Size ▴▾ Clear Aperture ▴▾ Operating Wavelength ▴▾
KTP (KTiOPO4) Nonlinear Crystal for 1064 nm SHG and E-O Devices, 350–4500 nm WQ-NLC-KTP — — —Contact
LBO (LiB3O5) Nonlinear Crystal for High-Power SHG and THG, 160–2600 nm Current WQ-NLC-LBO — — —
BIBO (BiB3O6) Nonlinear Crystal for Blue and Green SHG, 286–2500 nm WQ-NLC-BIBO — — —Contact