Intracavity frequency doubling in a wide-aperture argon laser

The four-mirror cavity with a BBO crystal for frequency doubling in a wide-aperture argon laser is optimised. The dependences of the second-harmonic power on the displacement of a focusing mirror, the displacement of the crystal, and the discharge current are measured. These dependences are in good agreement with calculations. After optimisation, ~1 W of UV laser radiation at 244 nm was obtained with the conversion efficiency twice as large as that for the known similar lasers. It is shown that the increase in the efficiency was achieved mainly due to the increase in the discharge-tube aperture.