Stress-induced Birefringence in Laser Crystals

The packaging and mounting of a laser crystal into system may cause stresses. The mechanical stress will induce birefringence in the crystal, which may slightly alter the polarization of the laser beam. For a practical laser system, it is important to know how the induce-birefringence may affect the performance of the laser. Taking a YAG crystal as an example, and using a linearly polarized input field, it is investigated how the output field changes with respect to the strength of the applied stresses.