Holographic interferometry measurement of the thermal refractive index coefficient and the thermal expansion coefficient of Nd:YAG and Nd:YALO

Abstract

Accurate values for the thermal expansion coefficient α and the thermal coefficient of refractive index <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">dn/dT</tex> are important in the design of a solid-state laser. This paper presents values of α and <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">dn/dT</tex> that were measured for Nd:YAG and Nd:YALO by a single-exposure holographic interferometry technique. The value of α for Nd:YAG agrees closely with that reported before, yet significantly different values of <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">dn/dT</tex> for Nd:YAG and α for Nd: YALO were obtained. A discussion of the measurement techniques is given.