Laser-Induced Damage Threshold of Single Crystal ZnGeP<sub>2</sub> at 2.1 µm: The Effect of Crystal Lattice Quality at Various Pulse Widths and Repetition Rates
Nikolai Yudin,
Oleg Antipov,
Ilya Eranov,
Alexander Gribenyukov,
Galina Verozubova,
Zuotao Lei,
Mikhail Zinoviev,
Sergey Podzvalov,
Elena Slyunko,
Vladimir Voevodin,
Alexander Zav’jalov,
Chunhui Yang
Affiliations
Nikolai Yudin
Laboratory for Radiophysical and Optical Methods of Environmental Studies, National Research Tomsk State University, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
Oleg Antipov
Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Ilya Eranov
Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Alexander Gribenyukov
Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Galina Verozubova
Technological Laboratory, Institute of Monitoring of Climatic and Ecological Systems, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 634055 Tomsk, Russia
Zuotao Lei
MIIT Key Laboratory of Critical Materials Technology for New Energy Conversion and Storage, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Mikhail Zinoviev
Laboratory for Radiophysical and Optical Methods of Environmental Studies, National Research Tomsk State University, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
Sergey Podzvalov
Laboratory for Radiophysical and Optical Methods of Environmental Studies, National Research Tomsk State University, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
Elena Slyunko
Laboratory for Radiophysical and Optical Methods of Environmental Studies, National Research Tomsk State University, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
Vladimir Voevodin
Laboratory for Radiophysical and Optical Methods of Environmental Studies, National Research Tomsk State University, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
Alexander Zav’jalov
Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Chunhui Yang
State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
The ZnGeP2 crystal is a material of choice for powerful mid-IR optical parametric oscillators and amplifiers. In this paper, we present the experimental analysis of the optical damage threshold of ZnGeP2 nonlinear crystals induced by a repetitively-pulsed Ho3+:YAG laser at 2091 nm. Two types of ZnGeP2 crystals grown under different conditions were examined using the laser and holographic techniques. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) determined by the pulse fluence or peak intensity was studied as a function of the pulse repetition rate (PRR) and laser exposure duration. The main crystal structure factor for a higher LIDT was found to be a reduced dislocation density of crystal lattice. The ZnGeP2 nonlinear crystals characterized by the high structural perfection with low density of dislocations and free from twinning and stacking faults were measured to have a 3.5 J/cm2 pulse fluence damage threshold and 10.5 MW/cm2 peak intensity damage threshold at 12 kHz PRR; at 40 kHz PRR the pulse fluence damage threshold increased to over 6 J/cm2, but the peak intensity damage threshold dropped to 5.5 MW/cm2.
