Abstract

Lithium niobate (LiNbO₃) is an important material for a wide range of nonlinear optical applications (e.g. optical parametric oscillators). Crystal properties have seen considerable progress in recent years. Residual absorption due to crystal impurities, however, can still lead to limitations in high-power applications. Here, absorption coefficients α < 0.01 cm⁻¹ can have an impact, which are difficult to determine in direct optical measurements. A recent study on absorption in the visible wavelength range used dedicated samples with 20 mm thickness [1]. Techniques applicable for the thickness of commonly used nonlinear optical crystals (0.5 or 1 mm) do require considerable experimental effort (as in [2]).

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