Photorefractive properties of ion-implanted waveguides in strontium barium niobate crystals

0.61 Ba_0.39Nb₂O₆, SBN61), either by proton or helium ion implantation. Proton-implanted samples show a large increase of dark conductivity that reduces or even prevents the recording of refractive index gratings. For waveguides formed by helium implantation this effect is absent, and they can be used for efficient holographic recording. Photorefractive properties of the waveguides are investigated by two-beam coupling. After implantation with 2.0 MeV He⁺ and doses of (0.5-5)×10¹⁵ cm^-2, the samples have to be polarized again, because heating or charge effects at the crystals surface during the implantation process decreases or even reverses the effective electrooptic coefficients in the waveguiding layer. For repoled samples, we find logarithmic gain coefficients of up to 45 cm^-1 with time constants for the build-up of the purely π/2-shifted refractive index grating of the order of 1 ms for the blue lines of an Ar⁺ laser. Photoconductivity depends nonlinearly on light intensity with an exponent x≈0.55. With increasing implanted helium dose, both electronic and nuclear damage of the waveguiding layer grows, and the photorefractive properties of the waveguides are considerably degraded. Received: 20 February 1997/Revised version: 1 May 1997     

Ferroelectric properties of strontium barium niobate crystals doped with rare-earth metals

The influence of doping of the Sr_xBa_1?x Nb₂O₆ (x=0.61) crystals (SBN-0.61) by rare-earth element (RE) dopants has been investigated. Taking into account the data available in the literature, it is demonstrated that the introduction of all rare-earth metals is accompanied by a substantial decrease in the temperature of the phase transition T _p and an increase in its smearing. The shift in the T _p temperature for certain rare-earth metals ranges up to 20 K per atomic percent of dopant in the crystal. It is experimentally established that, in the SBN-0.61: Yb, SBN-0.61: Ce, SBN-0.61: Tm, SBN-0.61: La, and SBN-0.61: (Ce + La) crystals, a decrease in T _p brings about a considerable increase in the permittivity and the piezoelectric and electrooptical coefficients. The conclusion is drawn that the doping by rare-earth metals provides a means of optimizing the properties of strontium barium niobates. The pulse switching of the SBN-0.61 and SBN-0.61: RE crystals is studied for the first time. It is found that the switching is characterized by a number of features, the most important of which is a decrease in the switched charge after the application of external fields. This effect associated with the specific features of the switching in the relaxor ferroelectric is assumed to be responsible for the instability of the parameters for strontium barium niobate material.     

Scanning probe microscopy investigation of ferroelectric properties of barium strontium niobate crystals

The ferroelectric properties of relaxor ferroelectric materials Sr _x Ba_{1 − x} Nb₂O₆ of different compositions have been investigated using scanning probe microscopy and macroscopic polarization methods. An analysis of the results obtained from microscopic and macroscopic measurements of the hysteresis loops has demonstrated that a frequency dependence of the coercive field E _c is observed at frequencies f in the range from 0.03 to 250 Hz, so that the coercive field E _c regularly decreases with decreasing frequency. The observation of the kinetics of domains under a direct-current voltage applied to the probe of the atomic force microscope has revealed a lateral motion of domain walls in response to electric fields E ≪ E _c . This result qualitatively explains a slow polarization relaxation occurring for a giant time in Sr _x Ba_{1 − x} Nb₂O₆.     

Effect of Ni doping on ferroelectric and dielectric properties of strontium barium niobate crystals

The influence of Ni doping on the ferroelectric and dielectric properties have been examined in Sr_0.61Ba_0.39Nb₂O₆ (SBN:61) relaxor crystals. The dopants introduced into SBN:61 crystals promote the switching process by reducing the value of threshold nucleation field, and thus coercive field. We present real-time studies of domain nucleation and growth processes in doped SBN:61 by the nematic liquid crystal (NLC) decoration technique. The broad phase transition and low-frequency dielectric dispersion that are exhibited by doped SBN:61 samples have a strong link to the configuration of the ferroelectrics microdomains, which in turn is strongly determined by Ni ions concentration.     

Investigation of ferroelectric properties of strontium barium niobate crystals by second harmonic generation technique

The ferroelectric properties of Sr _x Ba_{1 − x} Nb₂O₆ (SBN-x) crystals have been investigated using noncollinear (diffuse) second harmonic generation of IR radiation converted by a disordered domain structure. The switching characteristics have been determined from the dependences of the second harmonic intensity I _2ω(t) and I _2ω(E) for the SBN-0.75 crystals. These characteristics are in good agreement with the results of measurements by traditional methods and exhibit a number of specific features (long polarization relaxation times, irreproducibility of the shape of hysteresis loops, low-frequency dependence of the quantity E _c ) associated with the relaxor nature of SBN solid solutions. The kinetics of the diffuse second harmonic generation can be described in the framework of the phenomenological approach to polarization relaxation processes in relaxor ferroelectrics. The intensity of the diffuse second harmonic in switching is determined by the parameters (duration, amplitude) of the switching field pulse.     

The Barkhausen thermal effect as applied to investigation of the polarization switching of barium strontium niobate crystals

The thermally stimulated transformation of the domain structure of barium strontium niobate crystals with chromium and cerium photorefractive impurities is investigated using the Barkhausen thermal effect for the first time.     

Nanocrystals formation on Ho doped strontium barium niobate glass

The study of two different methods to obtain strontium barium niobate nanocrystals immersed in a glass matrix has been carried out. Ho₂O₃-doped SrO-BaO-Nb₂O₅-B₂O₃ glasses were fabricated using the melt quenching method. Glass ceramic samples were obtained from the precursor glass by thermal treatment in a furnace and by laser irradiation. These glass ceramic samples are formed by a glassy phase and a crystalline phase of strontium barium niobate nanocrystals. This structure was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and Atomic Force Microscope images. The incorporation of Ho³⁺ ions in the strontium barium niobate nanocrystals were corroborated by optical measurements, which produced an increment in the luminescence intensity compared to the precursor glass.     

Glassy properties of the relaxor ferroelectric strontium barium niobate at low temperatures

Relaxor ferroelectrics are known to show a low-temperature behaviour that quantitatively resembles the features of canonical glasses. In order to get a comprehensive characterisation of the responsible low-energy excitations, single crystals of strontium barium niobate were investigated below 10 K. The density of localised states was obtained from heat capacity, and their coupling to phonons from sound velocity and thermal conductivity. The presence of slowly relaxing systems could be estimated from heat release data, respectively.

In contrast with structural glasses, however, SBN and further relaxor ferroelectrics show an energy dependent density of states and an upper limit of the relaxation time spectrum. Considering these properties, which appear to be typical also for other glassy crystals, a modification of the standard tunneling model is proposed.     

铁电钾钠铌酸锶钡薄膜电光性能的研究

采用溶胶-凝胶法在氧化镁单晶衬底上制备了符合化学计量比的完全填充型铁电钾钠铌酸锶钡(KNSBN)薄膜，通过X射线衍射，摇摆曲线，X射线Φ扫描，扫描电子显微镜等方法研究了薄膜的微结构，采用Adachi法研究了薄膜的电光特性. 实验发现，KNSBN薄膜在氧化镁(001)单晶衬底上沿c轴外延生长，K⁺，Na⁺的引入有效地提高了薄膜的横向电光系数r₅₁. 成分为K_0.2Na_0.2Sr_0.24Ba_0.56Nb₂O₆, K_0.2Na_0.2Sr_0.6Ba_0.2Nb₂O₆, K_0.2Na_0.2Sr_0.72Ba_0.08Nb₂O₆的三种KNSBN薄膜的r₅₁值分别为108.52pm/V, 119.98pm/V, 126.96pm/V，r₅₁的数值随Sr²⁺含量增加而增大. 关键词： 横向电光系数 钾钠铌酸锶钡 外延生长     

Ionoluminescence of trivalent rare-earth-doped strontium barium niobate

Ionoluminescence spectra for different rare-earth ion (Pr³⁺ and Eu³⁺)-activated Sr_xBa_1?xNb₂O₆ strontium barium niobate crystals (x=0.33 and 0.60) have been induced with a 3 MeV proton beam for a variety of beam current intensities (45, 40 and 20 nA). The proton-beam induced luminescent spectra have shown features associated with the presence of the rare-earth ion and some spectral features mostly related to the host crystal, which appear only for high beam current intensities. We have compared the ionoluminescence results to those obtained under UV light excitation (photoluminescence technique) where a direct excitation of the band gap would occur.     

Noncollinear optical frequency doubling in strontium barium niobate

The observation of a novel noncollinear optical second-harmonic generation mechanism is reported. In strontium barium niobate crystals, a circular cone of second-harmonic light is generated when a fundamental beam of intensive laser light is directed along the crystallographic c axis. It can be shown that the effect is caused by the nonlinear polarization of antiparallel ordered ferroelectric microdomains.     

Pyroelectric and dielectric properties of calcium barium niobate single crystals

The effect of the calcium concentration on the pyroelectric and dielectric properties of Ca _x Ba_{1 ? x} Nb₂O₆ (CBN) crystals has been studied over a wide temperature range. It has been shown that the calcium concentration only influences the Curie point of crystals of this class. It insignificantly changes the absolute values of the permittivity, the coercive field, and the remanent polarization and does not influence their temperature dependences and the shape of the dielectric hysteresis loop. The possibility of the existence of relaxor properties in CBN crystals has been discussed.     

Superior real-time holographic storage properties in doped potassium sodium strontium barium niobate crystal

We demonstrate superior holographic storage performance in a cobalt doped potassium sodium strontium barium niobate (Co:KNSBN) crystal that possesses a fast response time of 1.4 ms, a large photorefractive sensitivity of 13 x 10(-3) cm(3) J(-1) under a total writing intensity of 1 W/cm(2) , and high spatial resolution of 45 line pairs/mm. Reconstructed images with high fidelity have been obtained in real-time holographic storage. The dynamic properties of the index grating, the dependence of response time on writing intensity, and the dark decay of diffraction signal with increased writing intensity indicate that two species and shallow traps exist in Co:KNSBN crystal.     

Influence of Zn doping on electrooptical properties and structure parameters of lithium niobate crystals

We report the dependence of the unit cell parameters and the EO coefficients on Zn doping in optical-damage-resistant LiNbO₃:Zn crystals. Both properties depend in a non-monotonic manner on the Zn content. This is accounted for by different types of Zn ion incorporation into the lattice depending on the Zn concentration in the melt. Extrema observed in the concentration dependence of the EO coefficients at about 2–3 and 6.4 mol.% Zn correlate with an unusual concentration dependence of the unit cell parameters a and c. The low-concentration anomalies may be accounted for by a decrease of the Li vacancy concentration due to the Zn incorporation into Li sites. Anomalies at high concentrations are obviously due to a partial incorporation of Zn ions on Nb sites, which is reflected in the structure data. Anomalies in the concentration dependence of other optical properties at about 6–7 mol.% Zn reported recently are obviously related to a change in the localization of the Zn ions. The combination of high EO coefficients with a reduced optical damage for these concentrations make these crystals attractive for applications as Q-switching or electrooptical modulation. Received: 16 Nowember 1998 / Revised version: 8 December 1998 / Published online: 24 March 1999     

Ca2+掺杂铌酸锶钡晶体的光折射变化特性研究

基于Ca2+掺杂铌酸锶钡晶体的透射特性,探讨了Ca2+在晶体中的电子行为机制,分析了Ca2+掺杂而引起的光致折射率变化特性.采用Michelson干涉装置测得了样品折射率随时间变化的特性曲线.实验结果分析表明,适当的ca2+掺杂可以有效改善铌酸锶钡晶体的光折射特性.     

Polarization and depolarization of relaxor ferroelectric strontium barium niobate

The anomalies of polarization (mismatch of hysteresis loops for several first repolarization cycles, the absence of specific coercive field, etc.) in quasi-static and dc electric fields have been found in the strontium barium niobate relaxor ferroelectric. The anomalies are associated with a highly inhomogeneous structure of the crystal, which is considered a clearly defined nonergodic system with a random distribution of strong local internal fields. The energy distributions of potential barriers for the polarization and the depolarization are obtained at different electric field strengths and temperatures.     

Parametric holographic scattering processes in photorefractive strontium–barium niobate

Light-induced holographic scattering is investigated in photorefractive Sr_0.61Ba_0.39Nb₂O₆ (SBN) crystals, in which diffusion charge transport dominates. A crystal is illuminated with two coherent pump beams and different scattering patterns are observed on a screen behind the crystal. We attribute the patterns to certain phase-matching conditions, which allows the identification of the parametric processes that are involved . PACS 42.65.Hw; 42.70.Nq     

Light-induced absorption of cerium-doped lead barium niobate crystals

Tetragonal lead barium niobate (Pb(1-x)Ba(x)Nb(2)O(6);1-x<0.63) crystals are promising photorefractive materials for applications such as holographic data storage. Measurements of light-induced absorption in Ce-doped lead barium niobate (Pb(0.5)Ba(0.5) Nb(2)O(6)) were performed. The induced absorption that was due to the presence of shallow traps was as large as 0.3cm(-1) at 633 nm and exhibited saturation behavior at green-pump intensity greater than 2W/cm(2) . The temporal profile of the dark decay was a double exponential, and the activation energies of the slow- and the fast-decaying components were determined to be 0.16 and 0.3 eV, respectively.     

Ca2+掺杂铌酸锶钡晶体的光折射变化特性研究

基于Ca²⁺掺杂铌酸锶钡晶体的透射特性,探讨了Ca²⁺在晶体中的电子行为机制，分析了Ca²⁺掺杂而引起的光致折射率变化特性.采用Michelson干涉装置测得了样品折射率随时间变化的特性曲线.实验结果分析表明，适当的Ca²⁺掺杂可以有效改善铌酸锶钡晶体的光折射特性. 关键词： 2+')" href="#">Ca²⁺ 铌酸锶钡 透射率 光折变     

Near-infrared photorefractivity in Cr-doped potassium sodium strontium barium niobate single crystal

We report on the photorefractive properties of a Cr-doped (K_1–x Na _x )_2A–2 (Sr _y Ba_1–y )_2–A Nb₁₀O₃₀ (x=0.586, y=0.659, A=1.12) single crystal in the near-infrared spectrum. The sample exhibits photorefractivity for wavelengths up to at least 840 nm where the steady-state two-beam coupling gain is found to be larger than 2 cm^–1. Photorefractive gain and decay rate are measured as a function of wavelength, grating spacing and intensity. The wavelength dependence of gain fluctuations in two-beam coupling are also measured.