Power and beam-width dependence of a BaTiO3: Ce self-pumped phase conjugator

Power and beam-width dependences of the performance of self-pumped phase conjugators using a BaTiO₃: Ce crystal have been investigated. The incident beam was permitted to enter the crystal by thea-face or the +c-face. In both cases, the phase-conjugate reflectivity was observed to vary with the power and beam width of the incident beam. In the former case, two different optical beam patterns in the crystal can be observed under different conditions. Qualitative explanations are given to some of the results observed.     

Photorefractive properties and self-pumped phase conjugation in a series of BaTiO3 crystals

This paper presents the experimental results of two-wave mixing and self-pumped phase conjugation (SPPC) in barium titanate (BaTiO₃) crystals doped with Rh or Ce. It has been shown that the main parameters of SPPC depend very strongly on the concentrations of dopants, the incident angles and the crystal cut used. High gain in two-wave mixing corresponds to low phase-conjugate reflectivity in all samples. It is impossible to maintain the highest reflectivity and gain simultaneously, because the gain will definitely be limited when we try to get the highest reflectivity, and vice versa. Some qualitative explanation of the experimental results is also given. Received: 5 January 2001 / Final version: 25 May 2001 / Published online: 19 September 2001     

Multimode to single-mode conversion of a Yb-doped fiber amplifier with a photorefractive Rh:BaTiO3 crystal

We present a technique to convert a multimode-transverse beam obtained from a multimode large core fiber amplifier into a single-mode beam by means of two-wave mixing in an infrared-sensitive Rh:BaTiO₃ crystal. Received: 26 March 2001 / Revised version: 27 March 2001 / Published online: 27 April 2001     

光折变晶体Ce:BaTiO3电光和压电系数的测量

用干涉仪的方法测量了Ce:BaTiO₃晶体的低频电光系数和压电系数．排除压电效应对光通过晶体引起相位的变化，得到低频下经极化的Ce:BaTiO₃单晶的电光系数r₄₂=1945±220pm/V和r₁₃=11.8±1pm/V．从而，为研究Ce:BaTiO₃晶体的光折变效应和理论计算提供了精确的线性电光系数 关键词：     

Different temperature dependences of photorefractive parameters of Ce-doped and Rh-doped BaTiO3

eff and the electro-optic coefficient r₃₃ in Ce-doped and Rh-doped BaTiO₃ were determined by two-beam coupling measurements. It was found that the effective trap density N_eff of BaTiO₃:Ce increases whereas that of BaTiO₃:Rh decreases with increasing temperature. The electro-optic coefficient r₃₃ of both crystals increases with temperature. The photorefractive response times were also measured and found to decrease with different rates as temperature increases in the two crystals. The results were discussed by using the two-centre model for BaTiO₃:Ce and three-charge-state model for BaTiO₃:Rh. We found that the different temperature dependence of N_eff in the two crystals was due to the fact that the deep- and shallow-trap levels in BaTiO₃:Ce are caused by different impurity centres whereas those in BaTiO₃:Rh are caused by different charge states of the same impurity centre. Received: 16 July 1998/Revised version: 26 October 1998     

Anomalous behaviour of long-time increase in diffraction efficiency of photorefractive grating in Ce：BaTiO3 in dark

Anomalous long-time increase of the diffraction efficiency is observed in dark-decay experiments of photorefractive gratings in Ce：BaTiO3. It is deduced that a phase-conjugate beam is induced by the writing beam at acute angle to the ＋c axis of the crystal and it interferes with the other writing beam to form a second grating which is perpendicular to the first grating formed by the interference between two writing beams. The rising behaviour of the diffraction efficiency results from the different decay rates of these two photorefractive gratings. Furthermore, a simplified model of two gratings, both induced by two deep traps, is proposed to account for this phenomenon and the fitting results agree well with the experimental results.     

Fast response self-pumped phase conjugator based on a +c-face incident configuration in a pentagon-shaped BaTiO3 crystal

We propose a novel geometry for a self-pumped phase conjugator that uses a +c-face incident configuration in a photorefractive pentagon-shaped 0°-cut BaTiO₃ crystal for obtaining fast response in phase conjugation. A steady phase-conjugate output with a fast response time 0.4 s is obtained when the incident beam has a 4 W/cm² intensity. The influences of position and angle on the temporal phase-conjugate response are also investigated. The advantage of this phase conjugator using this novel configuration is improved resolution of a phase-distorted image with a value as high as 128 lp/mm.     

Speckle interferometry methods for displacement and strain measurements using photorefractive crystal

Photorefractive crystals offer several attractive features such as high resolution and in situ processing. As the images are erasable, these crystals are suitable for read–write applications and hence find potential use in speckle photography, image processing and holography. The barium titanate (BaTiO₃) crystal as recording medium has been extensively used as a novelty filter for real-time in-plane displacement measurements employing two-beam coupling configuration. This paper presents new optical configurations in speckle shear photography to measure in-plan displacement and the strain in real time using BaTiO₃ crystal as recording medium. Speckle photography studies are made using a simple two-beam coupling configuration. In speckle shear photography, a diffused object illuminated with two parallel narrow laser beams is imaged inside the crystal, and a pump beam is added at this plane. The speckle patterns due to each beam and the pump beam produce index gratings. When the object is deformed, the speckle patterns shift consequently. We now have four speckle fields: two generated from the interaction of pump beam with the index gratings and two pertaining to deformed states directly transmitted through the crystal. Thus, the fields from respective points on the object interfere after passage through the crystal and produce the Young's fringe patterns. Due to strain, the fringes in each pattern are of different width and orientation, resulting in the generation of a Moiré pattern. The strain is obtained from the width and orientation of the fringes in the Moiré pattern. The experiments are conducted on a specimen with a notch, which is subjected to tensile loading. The in-plane displacement is measured separately in another experiment. The above studies are carried out at Nd–Yag laser.     

Temporal Behavior of Phase Conjugate Wave in Self-Pumped Phase Conjugator with Internal Total Reflection

Several temporal behaviors of the phase-conjugate output of a self-pumped phase conjugator with internal total reflection in BaTiO₃ crystal have been investigated as a function of the beam entrance position and incident angle on the crystal. Different sets of these conditions cause different behavior of phase conjugate wave which are unstable or pulsed output as well as temporally stable output. Classification of these temporal behaviors in phase conjugate wave by incident condition are shown.     

Temperature distribution and thermal-induced defects in photorefractive barium titanate crystals illuminated with intense cw or pulsed laser irradiations

The temperature distribution in a parallelepipedic crystal irradiated with a Gaussian repartition of light is calculated by solving the three-dimensional heat equation and taking into account the losses through the sides of the samples. The theoretical and experimental maps of temperature are satisfactorily compared. For barium titanate crystals, the resistance to intense cw laser (25.7 kW/mm² at 514.5 nm) and to Nd:YAG pulsed laser (peak power of 9.2 MW at 532 nm) is investigated. The defects induced by the irradiation are analysed. Under pulsed illumination, the damage threshold is found to be 0.54 GW/cm² in a nominally undoped BaTiO₃ and 0.44 GW/cm² in a rhodium-cobalt doped BaTiO₃ crystal. Received: 7 March 2000 / Revised version: 14 April 2000 / Published online: 16 August 2000     

Crystal orientation dependence of the SNR for signal beam amplification in photorefractive BaTiO3

In signal beam amplification by two-beam coupling in BaTiO₃ photorefractive crystals, beam fanning in the direction of the amplified signal reduces the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The dependence of the SNR and the signal beam gain on the crystal orientation are analysed using a HeNe laser. It is found that orientating the crystal for maximum gain gives poor signal-to-noise ratio. A compromise has to be made between the SNR and high gain for optimum signal amplification.     

Self-adaptive, narrowband tuning of a pulsed optical parametric oscillator and a continuous-wave diode laser via phase-conjugate photorefractive cavity reflectors: verification by high-resolution spectroscopy

A dynamic self-adaptive Bragg grating formed in a photorefractive crystal is shown to be a convenient way to attain single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) operation and narrowband tuning both in a pulsed, injection-seeded optical parametric oscillator (OPO) and in a continuous-wave (cw) extended-cavity diode laser. The pulsed OPO cavity comprises a Rh:BaTiO₃ photorefractive (PR) crystal, a periodically poled KTiOPO₄ nonlinear-optical crystal, and a dielectrically-coated end mirror. A continuous-wave seed beam at 820–850 nm from a tunable SLM diode laser traverses firstly the Rh:BaTiO₃ crystal and then is retro-reflected by the end mirror; this creates a wavelength-selective Bragg grating reflector in the PR crystal, thereby completing the OPO cavity. The cavity stays automatically resonant with the seed radiation, with no need to actively control its length or to make any other mechanical adjustment. One form of injection seeder comprises a novel extended-cavity diode laser (ECDL) design incorporating a self-pumped photorefractive phase-conjugate reflector and a compact, high-finesse tunable intracavity ring filter. This combination facilitates robust tunable single-frequency operation with narrow optical bandwidth. The performance characteristics of the OPO and the ECDL are evaluated by recording high-resolution atomic and molecular spectra. Notably, fluorescence-detected sub-Doppler two-photon excitation at 822 nm, of the 8S ←6S transition in atomic Cs, provides a crucial linewidth test.     

Multiwatt, tunable, diode-pumped CW Yb:GdCOB laser

We demonstrate that Yb-doped Ca₄GdO(BO₃)₃ (GdCOB) crystals are suitable for the development of high-power diode-pumped lasers emitting at around 1.04 μm. A 15%-doped Yb:GdCOB crystal was longitudinally pumped with a cw fiber-coupled diode emitting 10 W at 976 nm. While 5.2 W of diode power was absorbed, we obtained 3.2 W of 1043-μm laser light, with a beam quality factor M² equal to 3, and 2.5 W in a diffraction-limited beam. Furthermore, the laser is continuously tunable between 1018 and 1086 nm. Thermal effects have been investigated with a Shack–Hartmann wavefront analyser: although thermal lensing is not negligible, it does not affect the performance of the laser with the resonator design we used. Received: 1 August 2000 / Revised version: 18 September 2000 / Published online: 21 February 2001     

Investigation of nuclear-spin couplings in the lithium fluorides as possible candidates for crystal nuclear magnetic resonance quantum computing devices

We have performed ⁷Li and ¹⁹F nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in two lithium fluorides BaLiF₃ and YLiF₄ to explore the possibility of a crystal NMR quantum computing device. We find that (1) both the absolute values and the angular dependences of the line widths can primarily be accounted for by the nuclear dipolar fields, and (2) the spin–lattice relaxation times are long enough for quantum computations. These characteristics indicate that these crystals can be possible candidates for quantum computing devices. We also find that, in the perovskite structures like BaLiF₃, magic angles are quite effective to diminish the nuclear dipole fields, which enables us to treat some nuclei as ‘isolated’. We propose using this feature to create low-dimensional nuclear-spin networks in the crystals. Received: 29 January 2001 / Accepted: 6 February 2001 / Published online: 3 April 2001     

Optical phase conjugation in nonresonant and saturable absorptive/resonant systems

Recent results obtained at Alabama A&M University on optical phase conjugation in electrically unpoled BaTiO₃, BANANA and SBN crystals are presented. The decay curves of the transient gratings and phase conjugation in these crystals indicate the involvement of more than one exponential process, possible reasons for which are indicated. Self induced gratings have been studied in electrically unpoled SBN crystal using a He−Ne Laser. The oscillations in a ring passive phase conjugator (RPPC) and in a unidirectional ring resonator using an electrically poled BaTiO₃ crystal have, been found to be bistable. It is also found that bistable oscillations are possible in a geometry in which the crystal is used simultaneously in a RPPC and as a linear passive phase conjugate (LPCC) mirror. The auxiliary oscillations pumped by the RPPC are bistable with the oscillations in LPCC. A brief review of the recent literature on phase conjugation in saturable absorptive/resonant systems along with the experiments planned to be undertaken by the authors on such systems are presented.     

Conical parametric scattering of a single extraordinary beam in BaTiO3 crystal

In this paper, the parametric scattering of a single extraordinary polarized beam of laser in BaTiO₃ photorefractive crystal has been investigated experimentally and theoretically. The resulting pattern consists of beam fanning, isotropic ring, and anisotropic one. Among all parts of scattering pattern, isotropic ring has not been studied as much as beam fanning and anisotropic ring, and there still are some differences in reports about it. Therefore, the study has mainly focused on this part. In this experimental configuration, isotropic ring is just visible in positive angles although the other parts of parametric scattering pattern can be visible from behind and in front of the crystal. In addition to steady state pattern in forward and backward directions, its transient behavior with the rotation of crystal has been studied. The results of experiments have been analyzed carefully, and their theoretical explanations have been presented based on the standard theory of parametric scattering in photorefractive crystals. It has been shown that this configuration corresponds to the so called parametric B-process scattering.     

Studies of impurity levels in Rh-doped and Ce-doped photorefractive BaTiO3

Impurity levels, light-induced and thermo-induced charge transfer processes in Rh-doped and Ce-doped photorefractive BaTiO₃ were studied. The thermal depths and optical transitions of these impurity levels in the crystals were determined by using such methods as light-induced absorption, thermo-induced absorption, and grating dark decay. The origins of these impurity levels were discussed. We demonstrated, for the first time to our knowledge, that thermo-induced absorption spectroscopy is a useful and complementary technique for investigating the impurity levels in photorefractive crystals. With this technique, the deep impurity level generated by Ce in BaTiO₃:Ce was revealed and identified. Received: 7 July 1999 / Revised version: 24 September 19999 / Published online: 2 February 2000     

X-ray diffraction study on precipitate of Er:LiNbO3 induced by vapor transport equilibration

An X-ray powder diffraction study was performed on vapor transport equilibration (VTE) treated Er:LiNbO₃ crystals with different doping levels (0.2, 0.4 and 2.0% Er per cation site), different cut orientations (X- and Z-cuts) and different VTE durations (120, 150 and 180 h). Their diffraction characteristics were compared with those of pure congruent LiNbO₃ and as-grown Er:LiNbO₃. The most significant characteristic is the appearance of additional weak and broad peaks around the 2θ angles 30° and 59° in the diffraction patterns of both X- and Z-cut 2.0 mol% doped VTE crystals, confirming that they precipitated. A further comparison of their diffraction data with the powder diffraction files indicated that the new phase in these precipitated crystals is ErNbO₄, which has an approximate concentration of 1.0%, 1.065%, 1.485% for 120, 150 and 180 h crystals, respectively. The crystalline grain sizes of the new phase are 132.2∼184.1?. The unit cell parameters of the as-grown and VTE crystals were also determined from diffraction data; the variation from pure LiNbO₃ to as-grown Er:LiNbO₃ was qualitatively explained according to the crystal structure of LiNbO₃ and using the concept of ionic radius. VTE brings the crystal closer to a stoichiometric composition, thus causing the contraction of the lattice constants. Finally, a tentatively qualitative explanation for precipitate formation is given on the basis of crystal structure. Received: 2 August 2000 / Accepted: 29 March 2001 / Published online: 20 June 2001     

Syntheses of nanocrystalline BaTiO3 and their optical properties

Stoichiometric and titanium-excess nanocrystalline barium titanates were synthesized using a hydrothermal process at various hydrothermal temperatures and with further heat treatment at 500 °C and 900 °C. Owing to the different process conditions, the excess titanium exists in different states and configurations within the nanocrystalline BaTiO₃ matrix; this was demonstrated by X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering, and photoluminescence. In these nanocrystalline BaTiO₃, the 590, 571, 543 and 694 nm light emission bands were observed; mechanisms leading to such emissions were also discussed. Received: 23 February 2001 / Accepted: 10 May 2001 / Published online: 27 June 2001     

RHEED observation of BaTiO3 thin films grown by MBE

Ferroelectric BaTiO₃ thin films with a thickness of 10 monolayers (ML) were epitaxially grown on SrTiO₃(0 0 1) substrates by very slow deposition using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The investigations were carried out by two growth methods: (i) codeposition and (ii) alternate deposition of the metal elements in an oxygen atmosphere. In situ observation of reflection high-energy electron diffraction confirmed that an epitaxial cube-on-cube structure was prepared. After the deposition, X-ray diffraction measurements were carried out. The 10-ML-thick BaTiO₃ films were highly c-axis oriented single crystals with good film quality.