Growth of High Quality ZnGeP2 Crystals

ZnGeP2 single cyrstals have outstanding nonlinear and optical properties that make them the most attractive candidate for optical parametric oscillators (OPO) and amplifiers (OPA) capable of producing tunable laser radiation in the 2.5 to 13 micron region. The development of ZnGeP2-based devices has been hampered by existing synthesis and crystal growth methods that are not now capable of providing crystals of the required size and quality, including low absorption between 1 and 3 microns. The principle objective of this program is to develop a cost effective process for the growth of uniform, high quality ZnGeP2 single crystals with low optical absorption in the 2 micron region. We propose to use a novel technique to produce highly transparent ZnGeP2 single crystals suitable for OPO and OPA applications. As feed stock for the crystal growth process, we plan to use a new synthesis technique developed at INRAD which can produce large quantities of ZnGeP2 of controlled stoichiometry.