Thermally induced optical damage to barium–sodium niobate crystals

Thermally induced optical damage (TIOD) was observed in undoped barium–sodium niobate (BSN) crystals as a result of changes in their temperature. This damage was deduced from the behavior of YAG:Nd³⁺ laser radiation when a BSN crystal was inserted in the resonator and also using a helium–neon laser probe beam. The experimental results were satisfactorily explained by the familiar pyroelectric model of TIOD and, in the crystals studied, an inhomogeneity of the conductivity rather than an inhomogeneity of the pyroelectric constant played the main role.