Vibration of a mounted potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystal induced by the radiation pressure of a single-pass laser beam

Abstract We discovered that a mounted large-aperture potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH 2 PO 4 , KDP) crystal vibrates elastically when it is irradiated by a single-pass high-average-power laser beam. A theoretical model is developed to study the vibration of the KDP crystal caused by the radiation pressure of the laser beam, treating the radiation pressure caused by reflection as a static force. Additionally, the deformation and surface shape of the vibrating KDP crystal are calculated. It shows that a mounted 40 cm-level-aperture KDP crystal elastically vibrates at the pico-meter scale when irradiated by a single-pass laser beam at the GW cm −2 level.