Investigation on optical transmission spectra of (1−x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–xPbTiO3 single crystals

The optical transmission spectra from 0.3 to 11 μm of relaxor ferroelectric single crystals (1−x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–xPbTiO3 (PMN–xPT) were systematically studied at room temperature in this paper. The crystal is transparent between 0.45 and 5.5 μm and becomes completely absorbing around 0.4 μm in near UV region and 10 μm in infrared region. But the wavelength cutoff in near UV is much sharper than the long wavelength cutoff. As compared with other configurations, tetragonal single crystals possess the optimal transmission properties. The optical transmittance in the wavelength region from 0.45 to 5.5 μm is about 70%. The results show that tetragonal PMN–xPT single crystals are promising for a wide range of optical applications. Some discussions about the oxygen-octahedra structure that determines the basic energy level of the crystals are also presented on the optical properties of PMN–xPT single crystals.