Laser-induced damage investigation at 1064 nmin KTiOPO4 crystals and its analogy with RbTiOPO4

Bulk laser-induced damage at 1064 nm has been investigated in KTiOPO4 (KTP) and RbTiOPO4 (RTP) crystals with a nanosecond pulsed Nd:YAG laser. Both crystals belong to the same family. Throughout this study, their comparison shows a very similar laser-damage behavior. The evolution of the damage resistance under a high number of shots per site (10,000 shots) reveals a fatigue effect of KTP and RTP crystals. In addition, S-on-1 damage probability curves have been measured in both crystals for all combinations of polarization and propagation direction aligned with the principal axes of the crystals. The results show an influence of the polarization on the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT), with a significantly higher threshold along the z axis, whereas no effect of the propagation direction has been observed. This LIDT anisotropy is discussed with regard to the crystallographic structure.