SBIR Phase I: Homogeneous, High-Efficiency TiO2 and YVO4 Birefringent Crystals

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将证明，均匀，低损耗的TiO 2和YVO 4晶体可以通过商业上可行的水热晶体生长工艺生产。最近，使用水热生长方法生长均匀的YVO4和TiO2双折射晶体的计划具有初步结果，表明这些晶体可以在约500摄氏度的水热溶液中生长。晶体似乎具有上级光学性质。特别是，水热TiO 2和YVO 4应该显示出大大改善的双折射均匀性和较低的光学损耗。这些改进将允许在光学、光子学、电信和激光器件、设备和系统中使用更紧凑、更高性能、更高效率的组件。该技术更广泛的影响将是光交换、光和网络。 光学元件中使用的晶体的需求预计将飙升。 超过1000万个光学元件（隔离器、环行器、分束器等）2001年售出，预计未来几年需求将大幅增加。光学元件中使用的晶体数量预计将比固态激光器中使用的体积高三个数量级。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)Phase I project will prove that homogeneous, low-loss TiO2 and YVO4 crystals can be produced via commercially viable hydro-thermal crystal growth processes. Recently, a program to grow homogeneous YVO4 and TiO2 birefringent crystals using hydro-thermal growth methods had preliminary results that indicate that these crystals can be grown in hydro-thermal solutions at ~ 500 degrees C. The crystals appear to have superior optical properties. In particular, hydro-thermal TiO2 and YVO4 should display greatly improved birefringence homogeneity and lower optical loss. These improvements will allow more compact, higher performance, higher efficiency components used in optics, photonics, telecom, and laser devices, equipment, and systems. The broader impact of this technology would be as optical switching, optical, and networking. The demand for crystals used in optical components is expected to skyrocket. Over 10 million optical components (isolators, circulators, beam splitters, etc.) were sold in 2001, and that demand is expected to increase significantly in the next few years. The number of crystals used in optical components is expected to be three orders of magnitude higher than the volume used in solid state lasers.