MULTIPHOTON EFFECTS IN RUTILE

Multiphoton effects are investigated in crystalline rutile TiO(,2) using Nd:YAG laser photons. The 1.06 micron laser is operated in Q-switched mode with intensities up to 1.4 x 10('6) watts/cm('2) on the rutile crystal. Photoconductivity measurements provide data indicating a mixture of modes for electrons to be photoionized. Assuming aluminum impurity as the contributing sites, the first order photionization cross section is found to be 1.5 x 10('-26) cm('2) and second order cross section is found to be 7.7 x 10('-51) cm('4)-s. No appreciable change in cross section is observed for circular versus linear polarization of the laser. Observations of the photo-emission of the laser illuminated crystal provide radiative relaxation times on the order of 100 nanoseconds with emission peaks at 4500 and 5000 angstroms plus a near infrared continuum out to 1 micron. The thermoluminescence of rutile shows a number of trapping levels between 0.4 and 0.8 eV below the conduction band. These are attributed to an aluminum impurity.