Elastic and Photoelastic Properties of TeO2 Single Crystal

Abstract

Elastic stiffness, acoustic absorption, and photoelastic constants of the crystal have been determined at room temperature using ultrasonic light diffraction and pulse‐echo methods. Two acoustic modes have been found to be particularly useful to acousto‐optical applications: One is the shear mode propagated in the [110] direction with displacement along [1̄10], which is characterized by a remarkably high acousto‐optical figure of merit, M (n⁶p²/ρv³) = 793×10⁻¹⁸ sec³/g; and the other is the longitudinal mode along [001] with high figure of merit defined taking account of frequency bandwidth, M′ (n⁷p²/ρv) = 142×10⁻⁷ cm²·sec/g, and low acoustic loss.