GROWTH OF POTASSIUM IODATE SINGLE CRYSTALS FOR NONLINEAR APPLICATIONS

EFFICIENT GENERATION OF THE HARMONICS OF IMPORTANT LASERS SUCH AS ND:YAG (1064NM) AND TI:SAPPHIRE (700-900 NM) DEPENDS UPON THE AVAILABILITY OF SINGLE CRYSTALS WHICH EXHIBIT LARGE NONLINEAR COEFFICIENTS, HIGH OPTICAL TRANSPARENCY, HIGH LASER DAMAGE THRESHOLD, AND GOOD PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. KDP, KD*P, LIIO3 AND CD*A CRYSTALS HAVE BEEN USED FOR MANY YEARS AND, MORE RECENTLY, BBO AND LBO CRYSTALS HAVE BEEN FOUND TO OFFER SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES. VERY RECENTLY, SCIENTISTS AT SHANDONG UNIVERSITY IN CHINA REPORTED ON A TECHNIQUE FOR DETWINNING AND REMOVING DOMAINS IN KIO3 CRYSTALS. THEY FOUND THAT THE NONLINEAR OPTICAL COEFFICIENT OF SINGLE DOMAIN SINGLE CRYSTAL KIO3 WAS LARGER THAN THAT OF KDP, BBO, AND LBO. THIS MAKES KIO3 A VERY ATTRACTIVE NEW NONLINEAR CRYSTAL. RESEARCHERS ARE GROWING KIO3 FROM SOLUTION AND STUDYING THE EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE ON THE EFFICIENCY OF DETWINNING AND DOMAIN REMOVAL OF AS-GROWN CRYSTALS. THE NONLINEAR OPTICAL COEFFICIENT, ACCEPTANCE ANGLE, AND LASER DAMAGE THRESHOLD OF SINGLE DOMAIN KIO3 IS BEING MEASURED AS WELL AS THE CONVERSION EFFICIENCY FOR SECOND AND THIRD HARMONIC GENERATION OF LASER RADIATION FROM 700 TO 1064 NM.