Single crystal fibers of MgO:LiNbO3

As optical instruments and devices see a broader and wider use, it becomes necessary to increase their efficiency in order to make them more compact and lighter, particularly for space applications. Nonlinear optical devices, such as second harmonic generators and parametric oscillators, will be an important part of this in order to create new wavelengths and tunable sources. If these devices can be made in fiber form, a significant improvement in efficiency will result. It will then be possible to use the efficient semiconductor lasers as a pump in spite of their poor beam quality. We have investigated the growth of MgO:LiNbO3 in fiber form using the laser-heated pedestal-growth technique. We were able to grow fibers of good optical quality without resorting to post-growth processing. However, we did anneal the fibers to improve their mechanical properties. Different techniques were tried to pole the fibers with limited success.