Ultraviolet continuous-wave laser source at 205 nm for hydrogen spectroscopy

This paper reports on the generation of 15 mW of continuous narrow-band laser source at 205 nm. The infra-red light source provided by a Titanium-Sapphire (TiSa) laser is mixed with the fourth harmonic of a Nd:YVO4 laser by the use of a beta-barium borate (BBO) non-linear crystal. This highly reliable and powerful ultraviolet (UV) source is an ideal tool for the 1S-3S hydrogen spectroscopy. Moreover, the wide tunability of the TiSa laser combined with this experimental set up makes the generation of bright deep ultra-violet (D-UV) sources possible. In particular, we plan to produce a 194 nm continuous light beam which is necessary to perform the 1S-4S transition in hydrogen. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.