Structural and optical investigations on Mn doped Li2B4O7 crystals

Lithium tetraborate crystals have great demand due to its non‐critical phase matching at 90°. Transparent and good optical quality single crystals of undoped and Mn doped Li₂B₄O₇ were grown by Czochralski technique in air atmosphere. The crystalline phase was determined by X‐ray diffraction. Doping of Mn in the grown crystals was confirmed by energy dispersive analysis of X‐rays (EDAX) technique. Transmission spectra show that the crystal is transparent in the visible region. Birefringence interferograms were recorded to qualitatively analyse the optical homogeneity of the grown crystals and to quantify the birefringence of the samples in desired crystal direction. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)