OFT sectorization approach to analysis of optical scattering in mercurous chloride single crystals

This paper is devoted to the application of the optical Fourier transform (OFT) for the study and evaluation of optical scattering in the latest generation of calomel single crystals ready for application in several possible devices such as IR polarizers and acoustooptic tunable filters (AOTF). There are numerous effects that are responsible for the scattering of optical wave passing through the crystal sample volume and surface layers because they affect the optical crystal quality. The scattering level is a crucial and limiting parameter in many technical applications of the evaluated crystal. The proposed approach is based upon the high dynamic range optical FT configuration, creating the amplitude spectrum in the focal plane and its spatial angular distribution analysis based on the spectrum sectorization. The optical scattering pattern was tested in nine locations within each crystal sample volume and on numerous crystal samples. The experimental results are presented and discussed.