Electro-Optics Effect in Periodically Domain-Inverted Ferroelectrics Crystals: Principles and Applications

Abstract

Ferroelectric crystals are important materials in many applications. Since the invention of laser and proposal of the so-called quasi-phase matching technique, periodically domain-inverted ferroelectrics crystals with modulated second-order nonlinear susceptibility are widely used in frequency conversion application such as optical parametric oscillation (OPO), second harmonic generation (SHG), and so on. In periodically domain-inverted ferroelectrics crystals, besides the nonlinear optical coefficients, other third-rank tensors, such as the electro-optic (EO) coefficient, are also modulated periodically because of the periodically reversed ferroelectric domains. This periodic modulation of the EO coefficient brings some novel applications. In this chapter, the principles and applications of the electro-optics effect in periodically domain-inverted crystals are presented.