Piezooptic Coefficients of Sn₂P₂S₆ Crystals

Abstract

The piezooptical (PO) parameters of the ferroelectric crystal Sn ₂ P ₂ S ₆ with monoclinic symmetry are measured by an interferometric technique for the mechanical stress applied parallel to the three main crystallographic axes at light wavelength λ = 632.8 nm and room temperature (T = 293 K). Nine independent PO coefficients are determined experimentally. They exhibit quite large values: the largest measured component is π ₁₁ = 15.6 pm N. The high PO coefficients presume potential applications of Sn ₂ P ₂ S ₆ as high-efficient acousto-optic material.

Keywords:

• Sn₂P₂S₆ crystals
• piezooptic coefficients
• ferroelectrics

PACS:

• 78.20.Hp
• 42.70.-a
• 62.65
• 62.20.Dc

Acknowledgment

Some of the authors (O.M., I.M.-L. and R.V.) acknowledge financial support of this study from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (the Project N0106U000616).