Photorefractive properties of iron-doped lithium tantalate crystals

Iron-doped lithium tantalate crystals are grown by the Czochralski method and their photorefractive properties are examined with holographic methods. Dynamic range, holographic sensitivity, photoconductivity, and dark storage time are measured in dependence on the iron concentration and light intensity. The largest refractive-index change for ordinarily polarized light is 3.5×10^-4, in comparison with 6.2×10^-4 for iron-doped lithium niobate. Due to a small mobility of protons the dark storage time of holograms in lithium tantalate is larger than that in lithium niobate. PACS 42.40.Pa; 42.70.Ln     

Nonvolatile two-color holographic recording in near-stoichiometric lithium niobate crystals gated by incoherent ultraviolet light

Nonvolatile two-color holographic recording gated by incoherent ultraviolet （UV） light centered at 365 nm is investigated in near-stoichiometric lithium niobate crystals. The influence of thermal treatment on the two-color recording is studied. The results show that thermal reduction tends to improve the two-color recording performance, whereas thermal oxidation degrades the two-color recording. With an incoherent 0.2-W/cm2 UV gating light and a 0.25-W/cm2 semiconductor recording laser at 780 nm, a two-color recording sensitivity of 4 × 10^-3 cm/J and a recording dynamic range characterized by M/# of 0.12 are achieved in a 2.2-mm thermally reduced near-stoichiometric lithium niobate crystal. We attribute the improvement to the prolonged lifetime of small polarons and the increased absorption at the gating wavelength due to thermal reduction.     

High-efficiency nonvolatile holographic storage with two-step recording in praseodymium-doped lithium niobate by use of continuous-wave lasers

We have observed efficient two-photon, two-step recording in a praseodymium-doped lithium niobate crystal by use of cw lasers. Single-photon erasure during the readout at near-infrared wavelengths was found to be negligible. Nonvolatile holographic image storage was demonstrated. This progress is an important step in the realization of an economically feasible nonvolatile read-write holographic recording system based on low-cost semiconductor diode lasers.     

Photocarrier transport in iron-doped potassium lithium tantalate niobate studied by time-of-flight measurement

The photocarrier mobility of Fe 0.03 wt%-doped potassium lithium tantalate niobate (K_0.95Li_0.05Ta_0.61Nb_0.39O₃) was investigated by time-of-flight (TOF) measurement. The longitudinal photocarrier response due to pulsed excitation leads to values of the drift mobility of μ_h = 1.45 × 10⁻² cm²/V s for holes, μ_e = 0.325 × 10⁻² cm²/V s for electrons, and a value for the range of holes (μτ)_h = 4.38 × 10⁻⁵ cm²/V at room temperature and at low field 3 KV/cm. The response time of holes and electrons (or the relaxation time) is determined to be 3.02 × 10⁻³ s and 3.74 × 10⁻³ s, respectively. The mobility of holes strongly depends on the field strength, and is observed to decrease with increasing bias field.     

Surface ablation of lithium tantalate by femtosecond laser

We report measurements of the laser induced breakdown threshold in lithium tantalate with different number of pulses delivered from a chirped pulse amplification Ti: sapphire system. The threshold fluences were determined from the relation between the diameter D² of the ablated area and the laser fluence F₀. The threshold of lithium tantalite under single-shot is found to be 1.84 J/cm², and the avalanche rate was determined to be 1.01 cm²/J by calculation. We found that avalanche dominates the ablation process, while photoionization serves as a free electron provider.     

Diode-pumped continuous-wave widely tunable optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled lithium tantalate

We report on a diode-laser pumped cw optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on quasi-phase-matched periodically poled lithium tantalate. Pumped by the 2.3-W single-frequency, nearly diffraction-limited 925-nm output of an InGaAs diode master-oscillator power amplifier, the pump and signal resonant OPO generates a single-frequency idler wave with an output of as much as 244 mW. The wavelengths of the signal and idler waves are widely tunable in the range 1.55-2.3mum by use of different poling periods (27.3 to 27.9mum) and by variation of the crystal temperature in the range 70-190 degrees C.     

Infrared holographic recording in lithium tantalate crystals by means of the pyroelectric effect

Infrared holographic recording in a two-step process is demonstrated in stoichiometric iron-doped lithium tantalate crystals. Through absorption of two intersecting infrared pulses (A = 1064 nm) a temperature grating and thus a modulated pyroelectric field build up. Free electrons, excited by homogeneous light of a shorter wavelength (lambda = 532 nm) drift in this field, and a phase hologram is stored that can be read nondestructively. The change in refractive index depends mainly on the absorption coefficient at the wavelength of the recording light and on the intensity of the infrared light. The proposed method may be extended to telecommunication wavelengths by choice of suitable dopants.     

Field-induced light deflection in lithium niobate and lithium tantalate: the possible configurations

Field-induced light deflection by ferroelectric domain walls in lithium niobate (LN) and lithium tantalate (LT) is theoretically studied. The phenomenon can occur not only when both the incident wave vector k and the electric field E are parallel to the z-axis—as demonstrated by experiments made so far—but also when E and/or k are perpendicular to z. In particular, for E parallel to x and k parallel to y, the deflection phenomenon is predicted to have the same characteristics as in triclinic or monoclinic ferroelastics: the large deflection angle is related to the natural birefringence, whereas the deflection amplitude is proportional to the small tilt angle of the neutral lines, which is here induced by the electric field. In periodic domain structures, interference between deflected waves occurs, and the deflected intensity is expected to be largely enhanced when the Bragg condition is satisfied. This transverse configuration is thus specially attractive to characterize periodically-poled crystals.     

High-efficiency frequency doubling of continuous-wave laser light

We report on the observation of high-efficiency frequency doubling of 1550?nm continuous-wave laser light in a nonlinear cavity containing a periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate crystal (PPKTP). The fundamental field had a power of 1.10?W and was converted into 1.05?W at 775?nm, yielding a total external conversion efficiency of 95±1%. The latter value is based on the measured depletion of the fundamental field being consistent with the absolute values derived from numerical simulations. According to our model, the conversion efficiency achieved was limited by the nonperfect mode matching into the nonlinear cavity and by the nonperfect impedance matching for the maximum input power available. Our result shows that cavity-assisted frequency conversion based on PPKTP is well suited for low-decoherence frequency conversion of quantum states of light.     

Self-trapped electrons in lithium tantalate

The electron spin resonance spectrum of Ta⁴⁺ ions has been investigated in LiTaO₃. These defects were produced either by irradiating as-grown crystals with X-rays or by optically bleaching crystals that had been previously reduced. In both cases, the Ta⁴⁺ ions were stable only at temperatures near or below 77 K. The g and hyperfine matrix parameters for the Ta⁴⁺ spectrum are g₆ = 1.503, g_⊥ = 1.172, A₆ = ∼0, and A_⊥ = 699 MHz. These parameters describe a 5d¹ electron on the tantalum ion, and we conclude that the defect represents a “self-trapped” electron at the normal Ta⁵⁺ site.     

LiNbO3:Fe晶体二波耦合弱光放大的物理机理

对LiNbO₃: Fe晶体中二波耦合过程进行了动态观测.进一步探讨了LiNbO ₃:Fe晶 体中弱光放大的物理机理.发现LiNbO₃ : Fe晶体中二波耦合过程的弱光放大 对c轴指 向有明显的依赖关系，虽然光生伏打效应对光生载流子的迁移有主要贡献，但扩散机理的贡 献仍不可忽略.弱光最终得到放大是瞬态能量转移与扩散机理引起的能量转移的共同贡献.弱 光放大达到准稳态之后的下降过程为瞬态能量转移的时间指数衰减过程与光散射引起的能量 耗散的共同贡献. 关键词： 光折变效应 光放大 掺杂铌酸锂     

Reflection holograms in iron-doped lithium niobate

Received: 7 November 1996/Revised version: 16 December 1996     

掺杂对铌酸锂晶体非挥发全息存储性能的影响

通过研究掺镁、掺锌和掺铟同成分铌酸锂晶体的紫外-红光双色全息存储性能,发现双色记录响应时间均比单色记录时明显缩短,最多的可减小3个数量级;双色记录灵敏度大幅度提高,在掺镁5 mol.%的晶体中可达到11 cm/J.在掺杂浓度超过抗光损伤阈值的铌酸锂晶体中,均可实现非挥发全息存储.但是,在掺镁、锌样品中,深、浅能级中心上的光栅反相,而在掺铟样品中则表现为同相.这是由于掺杂离子的种类不同,在铌酸锂晶体中形成的缺陷中心也不同所引起的. 关键词： 掺杂 铌酸锂晶体 非挥发 全息存储     

Polaron luminescence in iron-doped lithium niobate

Photoluminescence related to the bound polaron Nb_Li⁴⁺ is investigated as a function of temperature and incident light intensity in iron-doped lithium niobate crystals with various iron concentrations. Experiments are done under constant-wave (CW) and pulsed illumination. Its found that the decay time is always monoexponential. The radiative lifetime, the activation energy of the nonradiative lifetime and the quenching temperature are only weakly sensitive to iron concentration. On the other hand, the magnitude of the photoluminescence signal seems strongly correlated to the Fe²⁺ concentration, and the superlinear regime evidenced at low CW illumination definitely confirms that polaron excitation in lithium niobate is a two-step process.     

Efficient continuous-wave generation in a self-organizing diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser with a reciprocal dynamic holographic cavity

A diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser is demonstrated that has a reciprocal self-intersecting loop cavity with self-organization by formation of a dynamic holographic grating induced by the generating beam. Continuous-wave high spatial quality generation (M2 < 1.2) with 9.6 W of power and 32% optical efficiency is obtained. Spectral compositions and temporal dynamics are investigated as functions of diode-pumping power.     

Optical properties of lithium niobate and lithium tantalate crystals with impurities and defects

The photoinduced and Raman scattering in lithium niobate and lithium tantalate crystals with impurities and defects have been studied. An exciting laser beam propagated either along the ferroelectric Z axis or perpendicular to it. The conditions for exciting transverse and longitudinal polar optical modes in Raman spectra are established. The regularities of the excitation of Raman spectra in several polarization geometries (X(ZZ)Y, Z(XX, Y Y)Z, Z(XX, Y Y)Z, X(ZX)Y, X(ZX)X and X(ZX)X) have been investigated. Additional (extra) spectral lines are interpreted as a manifestation of a biphonon enhanced by the Fermi resonance and the result of violation of selection rules for pseudoscalar modes of the A ₂ type due to the reduction of the point symmetry group caused by the presence of impurities and defects in real crystals. The conditions for exciting coherent longitudinal and transverse modes in lithium niobate and lithium tantalate single crystals upon stimulated Raman scattering are analyzed. The temperature evolution of the spectra recorded in the X(ZZ)Y geometry near the ferroelectric phase transition point is explained based on the concept of effective soft mode and analysis of the isofrequency opalescence effect. Strong photoluminescence is found in copper-doped lithium niobate crystals.     

Two-step holographic recording in photorefractive lithium niobate crystals using ultrashort laser pulses

We investigate non-volatile holographic data storage in photorefractive lithium niobate crystals. Infrared picosecond laser pulses are used to write holograms after sensitizing the crystal with blue light from a cw-laser. The dependence of the dynamic range and the photoconductivity on the pulse intensities and the recording wavelength is investigated in detail. The results can be explained by a two-center model if the mean intensity of the laser pulses is considered. We demonstrate that several fixed holograms can be multiplexed by employing the wavelength multiplexing technique.     

Two-photon induced photorefraction in undoped lithium tantalate crystals with different compositions

Two-photon interband photorefraction in undoped lithium tantalate crystals with composition ranging from 47.95 to 49.6 mol% of lithium oxide was demonstrated at the wavelength of 532 nm. The photorefractive properties were examined with holographic method. Two-photon holograms were recorded with high holographic sensitivity, large refractive index change, and fast hologram writing time. Permanent changes of the refractive index have been obtained. These holograms can be read nondestructively at the wavelength of 660 nm using heterodyne method. Holographic characteristics strongly depend on composition.     

Nonvolatile holographic storage in triply doped LiNbO3: Hf, Fe, Mn crystals

It has been suggested to use LiNbO3:Fe,Mn crystal for solving the problem of information volatility during the read-out process with all-optical facilities,but the minute order response time is far from the requirements for the real-time information processing.We present the nonvolatile holographic storage properties of LiNbO3:Hf,Fe,Mn.The response time is shortened to 5.0 s,and the sensitivity S is enhanced to 0.22 cm/J in this triply doped crystal.The experimental results show that the HfO2 doping threshold is 5.0 mol.%.Thus it seems that we have found a useful tetravalent dopant for LiNbO3:Fe,Mn that can obviously improve the nonvolatile holographic recording sensitivity.     

Nature of the ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition in lithium tantalate

It is suggested that the ferroelectric phase transition in LiTaO₃ has characteristics of both displacement and order-disorder types, with peaks in the ion coordinate distribution function of the paraelectric phase at both centrosymmetric and off-center positions.