Improving deuterated potassium dihydrogen phosphate's electro-optical Q-switched characteristics by adding a pair of auxiliary electrodes.

Deuterated potassium dihydrogen phosphate (DKDP) crystal is one of the most commonly used electro-optical (EO) Q-switch materials. A traditional DKDP EO Q-switch in the Pockels cell has a pair of electrodes, resulting in a nonuniform electric potential along the radial direction. Theoretical analysis and calculation show the radial nonuniform electric potential of DKDP crystals can be improved by adding a pair of auxiliary electrodes. Meanwhile, the experimental results demonstrate that the Q-switched laser characteristics are greatly improved with auxiliary electrodes added to DKDP crystal.