One-pulse driven plasma Pockels cell with DKDP crystal for repetition-rate application.

Pockels cell (PPC), which can use a thin crystal to perform the uniform electro-optical effect, is ideal component as average-power optical switch with large aperture. In this paper, the key problems in PPC are analyzed for repetition-rate application, and thermo-optical effects are simulated by means of numerical modeling when average power is loaded on the electro-optical crystal. By reformative design and employing a capacity to share the gas discharge voltage, the DKDP PPC driven by one pulse is realized. As gas breakdown delay time is stable, and discharge plasma is uniformly filled the full aperture, it meets the demand of plasma electrode for the repetition-rate PPC with DKDP crystal. The switch efficiency of PPC at the whole aperture is better than 99%.