Optical properties and laser-induced damage threshold for Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃−based ferroelectric crystals

As an excellent kind of ferroelectric crystal, Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃–PbTiO₃ (PMN-PT) crystals have been proved to have excellent nonlinear optical properties. However, the laser damage threshold (LIDT) for PMN-PT crystals, another important parameter in the field of nonlinear crystals remains understudied. This study investigated the optical properties and laser-induced damage thresholds (LIDTs) for PMN-based crystals. It shows that the maximum transmission is 78% and the maximum threshold for PMN-based crystals is 6.92 J/cm², amounting to about 3.64 times the threshold for doped PMN-based crystals (1.9 J/cm²). This is probably related to the considerably decreased laser resistance of the dopants to PMN-based crystals because of the heterogeneous local polar regions and defects in the doped crystals. Conclusively, the present study has proved that pure PMN-based crystals are currently the optimal candidates for high-power laser applications and that the doped PMN-based crystals may be an ideal candidate for on-chip photonic devices.