Absorption coefficients and scattering losses of TGG, TGP, KTF, FS, and CeF 3 magneto-optical crystals in the visible via cavity ring-down spectroscopy.

We demonstrate a method for determining small absorption coefficients and surface-scattering losses of crystals using cavity ring-down spectroscopy and perform measurements on magneto-optical crystals of terbium gallium garnet (TGG), terbium gallium phosphate (TGP), fused silica (FS), potassium terbium fluoride (KTF), and at 532 and 634 nm. Surface scattering is distinguished from absorption losses by using crystals of different lengths. A figure of merit (FoM) for magneto-optical crystals is defined to evaluate their suitability as intracavity optics in optical cavity applications. It is found that TGP has the highest FoM for crystal lengths up to ∼10 , whereas and FS potentially outperform TGP for longer crystals. Single-pass applications are also briefly discussed.