Deuterium homogeneity investigation of large-size DKDP crystal

Large-size DKDP crystals are grown by conventional-growth (CG) and rapid-growth (RG) methods and their deuterium homogeneities are measured in situ by Raman spectroscopy. The influence of deuterium homogeneity on third harmonic generation (THG) is also researched. The results indicate that the CG DKDP crystal is in good homogeneity of deuterium content (0.005% cm(-1) deviation along the e-axis) and its influence on the third harmonic generation can be neglected, while the RG DKDP crystal shows a more complicated distribution of deuterium content. Its deuterium content decreases gradually, about 0.2% per cm with crystal growing, which will lead to about 5% inhomogeneity of the THG efficiency at 3 GW/cm(2) of fundamental radiation. (C) 2018 Optical Society of Americaunder the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement