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

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将证明，通过商业上可行的水热晶体生长工艺，可以生产出均匀、低损耗的TiO2和YVO4晶体。最近，一项利用水热生长方法生长均匀的YVO4和TiO2双折射晶体的计划取得了初步结果，表明这些晶体可以在~ 500℃的水热溶液中生长，并且晶体具有优越的光学性能。特别是，水热TiO2和YVO4应该表现出大大改善的双折射均匀性和更低的光学损耗。这些改进将允许在光学、光子学、电信和激光设备、设备和系统中使用更紧凑、性能更高、效率更高的组件。这项技术更广泛的影响将是光交换、光和网络。用于光学元件的晶体需求预计将急剧增长。2001年销售了超过1000万个光学元件（隔离器、环行器、分束器等），预计未来几年这一需求将显著增加。光学元件中使用的晶体数量预计将比固体激光器中使用的体积高出三个数量级。

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.