The linear electro-optic (Pockels) effect in a series of alkali metal acid phthalate crystals has been studied. Single electro-optic coefficients rT13 and r:,, for sodium (NaAP), potassium (KAP) and rubidium (RbAP) acid phthalates have been measured by employing the modified Mach-Zehnder interferometric technique. The best electro-optic crystal in this series is RbAP with r~l, =9.10x10-12mV-1, r~3 3 = 3 . 0 5 x 1 0 -1 2 m V -1 and a sizable figure of merit for electro-optic phase retardation, comparable with that of KDP. The dispersion properties of the electro-optic coefficients for KAP are discussed in detail. KEYWORDS
Electro-optic modulator Pockels effect Dispersion of electro-optic coefficientsMolecular ionic crystal Non-linear optical material ' !
EXPERIMENTALThe linear electro-optic (EO, Pockels) effect is the variation in the refractive index n of a non-linear