Effect of Deuteration on the Temperature Dependence of the Quadratic Electro-Optic Effect in KDP Crystals

The results of precise measurements of the temperature dependencies of quadratic electro-optic coefficients, namely g1111-g1122 and no3g1111-ne3g3311, in KH₂PO₄ (KDP) and KD₂PO₄ (DKDP) crystals at a wavelength of 632.8 nm are presented. We consider electro-optic coefficients describing changes in the optical impenetrability tensor resulting from an applied electric field, as well as intrinsic electro-optic coefficients defined in terms of induced polarization. The results show significant differences in the values of the analogous coefficients for the KDP and DKDP crystals and their temperature dependencies. Therefore, the quadratic electro-optic effect in KDP-type crystals cannot be easily described based solely on the contribution of PO₄ tetrahedra, as assumed in current models of the linear effect. Moreover, the values of the intrinsic coefficients in the KDP and DKDP crystals differ even more than the corresponding usual electro-optic coefficients, which contradicts the conventional belief in their lower variability.