Abstract

Although potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) is often selected over more conventional materials like KD*P for use in second harmonic generation (SHG) applications, it is known to be susceptible to radiation¹ and "gray-track" damage. This is especially relevant to space applications as recent studies have shown KD*P to be insensitive to large doses of gamma radiation.² Most of the attention has been focussed on identifying the responsible centers in KTP^1,3 and relatively little has been reported on the macroscopic effect radiation has on this material, especially on the SHG process or the dynamics of the observed radiation-related absorption. In this paper we present experimental data showing the magnitude of the radiation-induced absorption in KTP, its effect on SHG, and the dynamics of the annealing process. Comparison of measured doubling efficiency and transmission data strongly suggests that the observed decrease in SHG efficiency in KTP results solely from increased absorption in this material.

© 1994 Optical Society of America