Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-wq484 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T08:50:03.219Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Optical Limiting with Lithium Niobate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

Gary Cook ,
David C. Jones ,
Craig J. Finnan ,
Lesley L. Taylor ,
Tony W. Vere  and
Jason P. Duignan
Gary Cook
Affiliation:
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), PB 115, St. Andrews Road, Malvern, Worcs. WR14 3PS, England.(44) 1684 896096, (44) 1684 896270, garyc@dera.gov.uk
David C. Jones
Affiliation:
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), PB 115, St. Andrews Road, Malvern, Worcs. WR14 3PS, England.(44) 1684 896096, (44) 1684 896270, garyc@dera.gov.uk
Craig J. Finnan
Affiliation:
Optical Materials Research Centre, University of Strathclyde, Colville Building, North Portland Street, Glasgow GI 1XN, Scotland. (44) 141 5483165, craig.j.finnan@strath.ac.uk
Lesley L. Taylor
Affiliation:
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), PB 115, St. Andrews Road, Malvern, Worcs. WR14 3PS, England.(44) 1684 896096, (44) 1684 896270, garyc@dera.gov.uk
Tony W. Vere
Affiliation:
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), PB 115, St. Andrews Road, Malvern, Worcs. WR14 3PS, England.(44) 1684 896096, (44) 1684 896270, garyc@dera.gov.uk
Jason P. Duignan
Affiliation:
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), PB 115, St. Andrews Road, Malvern, Worcs. WR14 3PS, England.(44) 1684 896096, (44) 1684 896270, garyc@dera.gov.uk
Get access

Abstract

Iron doped lithium niobate (Fe:LiNbO3) in a simple focal plane geometry has demonstrated efficient optical limiting through two-beam coupling. The performance is largely independent of the total Fe concentration and the oxidation state of the Fe ions, providing the linear optical transmission of uncoated crystals is between 30% and 60%. Fe has been found to be the best dopant for LiNbO3, giving the widest spectral coverage and the greatest optical limiting. Optical limiting in Fe:LiNbO3 has been shown to be very much greater than predicted by simple diffusion theory. The reason for this is a higher optical gain than expected. It is suggested that this may be due to an enhancement of the space-charge field arising from the photovoltaic effect. The standard two-beam coupling equations have been modified to include the effects of the dark conductivity. This has produced a theoretical intensity dependence on the ΔOD which closely follows the behaviour observed in the laboratory. A further modification to the theory has also shown that the focusing lens f-number greatly affects the optical limiting characteristics of Fe:LiNbO3. A lens f-number of approximately 20 gives the best results.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 597: Symposium PP – Thin Films for Optical Waveguide Devices & Materials … , 1999 , 263
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Crane, R., Lewis, K., Stryland, E. V. and Khoshnevisan, M., Materials for Optical Limiting, Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, vol. 374, 1995.Google Scholar
2. Sutherland, R., Patcher, R., Hood, P., Hagan, D., Lewis, K., Perry, J., Materials for Optical Limiting II, Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, vol. 479, 1997.Google Scholar
3. Salmo, J., Duree, G. C. Jr., Morin, M., Sharp, E. J., Wood, G. L. and Neurgaonkar, R. R., Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, vol. 374, 1995.Google Scholar
4. Kukhtarev, V., Markov, V. B., Odulov, S. G. and Vinetskii, V. L., Ferroelectrics, vol. 22, pages 949–960, 1979.Google Scholar
5. Solymar, L., Webb, D. J. and Grunnet-Jepsen, A., The Physics and Applications of Photorefractive Materials, Oxford Series in Imaging Science, vol. 11, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996.Google Scholar
6. Jones, D. C., Wave interactions in Photorefractive Materials, D. Phil. Thesis, Wadham College, Oxford University, 1989.Google Scholar
7. Kawasaki, K., Okano, Y., Kan, S., Sakamoto, M., Hoshikawa, K., Fukuda, T., “Uniformity of Fe-doped LiNbO 3 single crystals grown by the Czochralski method”, Journal of Crystal Growth, vol 119, 1992, pp 317–321.Google Scholar
8. Krumins, A. chen, Z., shiosaki, T., “Photorefractive reflection gratings and coupling gain ibn LiNbO3:Fe”, Optics communication, vol 117, pp 147–150, 1995 Google Scholar
9. Li, M., Jin, C., Xu, Y., “Reduction of photorefractive response time in double-doped LiNbO3:Fe,Tb”, SPIE Vol 2379, pp 2 98–300.Google Scholar
10. Cook, G., Finnan, C. J., Jones, D. C., “High optical gain using counterpropagating beams in iron and terbiumdoped photorefractive lithium niobate”, Applied Physics B, vol 68, pp 911–916, 1999.Google Scholar
11. McMillen, D. K., Hudson, T. D., Wagner, J., Singleton, J., “Holographic recording in specially doped lithium niobate crystals”, Optics Express, vol 2, no. 12, pp 491–502, 1998.Google Scholar
12. Burr, G. W., Psaltis, D., “Effect of oxidation state of LiNbO3:Fe on the diffraction efficiency of multiple holograms”, Optics Letters, vol 21, no. 12, p 893–895, 1996.Google Scholar
13. Glass, A. M., Linde, D. von der, Negran, T. J., “High-voltage bulk photovoltaic effect and the photorefractive process in LiNbO3 ”, Applied Physics Letters, vol 25, no. 4, pp 233–235, 1974.Google Scholar
14. Arizmendi, L. and Agullo-Lopez, F., “LiNbO3: a paradigm for photorefractive materials”, Material Research Society Bulletin, pp 32–38, March 1994.Google Scholar
15. Brovkovich, V. G., Sturman, B. I., “Observation of nonequilibrium diffusion in LiNbO3 crystals”, Soviet Physics JETP Letters, vol. 37, p550, 1983.Google Scholar
16. Rupp, R. A., Sommerfeldt, R., Ringhofer, K. H., Kratzig, E., “Space charge field limitations in photorefractive LiNbO3:Fe crystals”, Applied Physics B, vol. 51, pp 364–370, 1990.Google Scholar
17. Prokhorov, A. M., Kuz'minov, Yu S., Physics and chemistry of crystalline lithium niobate, p301, Pub. Adam Hilger, 1990.Google Scholar
18. Cook, G., “Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) dye laser amplifiers”, IEEE/LEOS Nonlinear Optics ‘98, Kauai, 9–14th August, 1998.Google Scholar
19. Cook, G., Jones, D. C., Finnan, C. J., Taylor, L. L., Vere, A. W., “Optical limiting with lithium niobate”, SPIE vol.3798, 21–22 July 1999.Google Scholar
20. Kukhtarev, N. V., Lyuksyutov, S. F., Buchhave, P., Kukhtareva, T., Sayano, K., Banerjee, P. P., “Self-enhancement of dynamic gratings in photogalvanic crystals”, Physical Review A, vol. 58, no. 5, p4051, 1998.Google Scholar