Abstract

Potassium niobate (KNbO3) crystal is not only a ferroelectric with strong nonlinear optical properties, but also a very good electro-optical material. Its electro-optical coefficient Γ42=380pm/v, and related dielectric constant ε and refractive index n are 240 and 2.3 respectively, therefore the photorefractive figure of merit Q (=n³ Γ42/ε) =19.3 (pm/v) [1] is the largest one comparing with BaTiO3, SBN, BSO, LiNbO3, LiTaO3 and GaAs.

© 1990 Optical Society of America