True zero-order ADP crystal waveplate with millimeter thickness

Abstract

For the first time, a series of true zero-order waveplates with millimeter thicknesses are designed and fabricated from ADP crystal. The basic principle is that the birefringence of crystal varies continuously with respect to the propagating direction of light wave. The characteristic parameters including angle, wavelength, temperature sensitivities are measured by the polarization interference method, at the same time the related theoretical analysis is given. The linear polarization rotation and add-voltage electro-optic Q-switching are realized with ADP half-waveplate (HWP) and quarter-waveplate (QWP), respectively. As a new-type polarization element with low-cost, large size and high optical damage threshold, true zero-order ADP waveplate is possible to find important applications in large-aperture and high-power laser systems.