SUBNANOSECOND SWITCHING, PLASMA ELECTRODE POCKELS CELL FOR HIGH-CONTRAST IMAGING WITH PARTIALLY COHERENT-LIGHT

A high-contrast optical switch for imaging partially coherent light (s imilar to 150 times the diffraction limit) requires that it have a lar ge angular acceptance. We describe the development of a high-speed Poc kels cell that uses a thin crystal to simultaneously achieve high-cont rast (greater than 1800:1) and large-angular acceptance (greater than 7 mrad for a 5-mm aperture). A KDP crystal was used in a longitudinal -mode configuration with plasma discharges forming low-resistance, hig h optical transmission electrodes to couple the switching voltage. Ris e times of the switched optical pulse of the order of 500 ps were obse rved. Characterization of the device in the near and far fields was al so performed. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America.