Lithium Triborate (LiB3O5), LBO Crystals
Lithium Triborate (LiB3O5), LBO, is a relatively new nonlinear optical material which has a wide transparency range, high damage threshold and a relatively large effective SHG coefficient. LBO also has good chemical and physical properties.

LBO crystal strengths include:
  • Wide transparency range, 160 - 2600nm
  • High optical damage threshold, c. 19 GW/cm2 @1064nm, 1ns
  • High optical SHG conversion

LBO crystal applications include:
  • SHG and THG: middle and high power Nd: lasers @1064nm
  • SHG: Ti:Sapphire, Alexandrite and Cr:LiSAF lasers
  • SHG and THG: high power Nd: lasers at 1342nm & 1319nm for red and blue laser
  • SHG: Nd:Lasers at 914nm & 946nm for blue laser
  • SFG: VUV output at 187.7nm
  • NCPM SHG: broad wavelength range from 900nm - 1700nm
  • Phase matching process cutoff: SHG-554 nm fundamental, THG-794 nm, SFM-down to 160nm.
  • Optical Parametric Amplifiers (OPA) and Oscillators (OPO)
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LBO Crystal - Availability
  • Format:
Rods, Discs and Slabs
  • Sizes:
Diameter: 40mm max and Length: 50mm max
LBO Crystal Properties
Optical Properties Units Value
Transmission/
Transparency Range		 µm 155 - 3200
Optical Homogeneity (δn) cm‾¹ ~ 10‾⁶
Refractive Index (n)
@1064nm nx=1.5656, ny=1.5905, nz= 1.6055
@532nm nx=1.5785, ny=1.6065, nz= 1.6212
@355nm nx=1.5973, ny=1.6286, nz= 1.6444
Non-linear Coefficients pm/V d31 =1.06, d32 = -0.98

d33 = 0.05
Effective Nonlinear Expressions: dooe = d32.cosφ (XY plane)

deeo = d31.cos2θ + d32.sin2θ (XZ) doeo = d31.cosθ (YZ)

deoe = d31.cos2θ + d32.sin2θ (XZ)
Electro-optic Coefficients: pm/V
Absorption Coefficient @1064nm cm‾¹ 0.001
Physical / Thermal Properties Units Value
Chemical Formula LiB3O5
Crystal Symmetry/Structure Orthorhombic
Space Group Pna21
Point Group mm2
Melting Point ºC 834
Thermal Expansion Coeff. @20ºC 10‾⁶/ºC ┴19.0

║ 44
Thermal Conductivity Coeff. @20ºC W/m/ºK
Specific Heat Capacity J/g K TBA
Density g/cm³ 2.47
Mohs Hardness 6
Optical Damage Threshold @1064nm,1ns GW/cm² c.19
LBO Crystal - Sellmeier Equations
nx² = 2.454140 + 0.011249/(λ² - 0.011350) - 0.014591λ² - 6.60×10‾⁵.λ⁴

ny² = 2.539070 + 0.012711/(λ² - 0.012523) - 0.018540λ² - 2.0×10‾⁴.λ⁴

nz² = 2.586179 + 0.013099/(λ² - 0.011893) - 0.017968λ² - 2.26×10‾⁴.λ⁴
LBO Crystal - Common Configurations
Application/
Operation		 Input
nm		 Output
nm
 Theta Phi
SHG (Type I) NCPM @1064nm (Nd:YAG)
 1064 532 90 0
SHG (Type I) NCPM @1053nm (Nd:YLF)
 1053 527 90 0
SHG (Type I) NCPM @1030nm (Yb:YAG) 1030 515 90 0
SHG (Type I) NCPM @1040-1045nm (Yb doped fibre) 1042 521 90 0
SHG (Type I) CPM @1064nm (Nd:YAG) 1064 532 90 11.4
SHG (Type I) CPM @1053nm (Nd:YLF) 1053 527 90 12.1
THG (Type II) CPM @1064nm (Nd:YAG) 1064 355 c.42.5 90
THG (Type I) CPM @1064nm (Nd:YAG) 1064 355 90 37.1
THG (Type II) CPM @1053nm (Nd:YLF) 1053 351 c.45 90