Study of Photorefractive Effects in Periodically-Poled Lithium Niobate.

Abstract

The objective of this DURIP-97 program was to facilitate investigation of photo-refractive effects in periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN). Performance limitations due to photo-refractivity were studied using photo-thermal common-path interferometry (PCI) to determine if photo-refractive damage sensitivity is dependent on grating duty cycle. The PCI technique operates in a "pump-probe" configuration, and is sensitive to both linear optical absorption at the ppm/cm level and photo-refraction. Bulk and waveguide frequency doubling PPLN modules having a range of grating pitches were fabricated by Corporation. In the bulk PPLN devices, optimum performance was found in modules with a nominal duty cycle close to the 50% value predicted by assuming that photo-refraction in lithium niobate is caused by photo-galvanic charge separation and that the alternating ferroelectric domain polarity due to the grating acts to "short-circuit" any charge build-up. Similar optimum performance is expected from waveguide harmonic conversion devices which have 40-50% duty cycles.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1999
Accession Number
ADA372478

Entities

People

  • A. Alexandrovski
  • M. M. Fejer
  • R. K. Route

Organizations

  • Stanford University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Absorption
  • Conversion
  • Corporations
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Frequency
  • Lithium
  • Lithium Niobates
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Niobates
  • Optical Absorption
  • Optical Materials
  • Piezoceramics
  • Refraction
  • Refractive Index
  • Waveguides

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.