Crystal growth and optical properties of a UV nonlinear optical material KSrCO3F

Large, centimeter size, single crystals of the UV nonlinear optical material KSrCO3F were successfully grown by a top seeded solution growth (TSSG) method. The morphology and quality of as-grown single crystals with different rotation speeds are discussed. UV-vis-NIR transmission spectra indicate an absorption edge of 195 nm. In addition, the refractive indices were measured at five different wavelengths from 450.2 to 1062.6 nm and revealed a birefringence of 0.1117 @ 532 nm and 0.1049 @ 1064 nm. The calculated phase-matching curves indicate that KSrCO3F can achieve both type I and type II phase-matching in a broad fundamental wavelength range from 400 to 1200 nm that covers technologically important 532 and 1064 nm radiation. To determine the individual non-linear optical coefficients, Maker-fringe measurements were performed. A value of d(22) = 0.50 pmV(-1) was measured. Finally, using a 6 ns Nd: YAG laser operating at 15 Hz, a laser damage threshold (LDT) of over 700 MW cm(-2) was measured. Our results indicate that single crystal KSrCO3F is an excellent UV second-order nonlinear optical material.