Demonstration of electro-optical switching at the 26 cm x 26 cm aperture using plasma electrodes.

We have constructed and tested a longitudinal Pockels cell with a clear aperture of 26 cm x 26 cm. Transparent plasma electrodes formed in a low-pressure glow discharge were used to apply a uniform electric field to a 1-cm thick KDP crystal. Optical switching times of 50 nsec were achieved with a bare KDP crystal. Significant improvement in switching time resulted from using a glass-plate-KDP-crystal sandwich.