Stable high-energy pulses achieved with low-stress electro-optic switch

A research team led by Prof. Zhang Tianshu from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a low-stress electro-optic switch based on large-aperture β-barium borate (BBO) slab crystals and integrated it into an Nd:YAG hybrid-cavity Innoslab laser system. Their study, published in Optics Express on January 13, addresses long-standing challenges in high-energy laser systems, particularly those related to switching modulation consistency and operational stability.