Electroluminescence in LiNbO3 single crystals

The light emission from LiNbO₃ single crystals caused by the applied a.c. high voltage is studied. It is interpreted as electroluminescence due to impact processes of field accelerated electrons. Two bands can be distinguished in the emission spectrum: one larger with the maximum at 660nm and one smaller at about 500nm.     

Hyper-Raman scattering in the LiNbO3 crystal

The hyper-Raman spectra in non-centrosvmmetric LiNbO₃ crystal were obtained using the multichannel recording technique. The hyper-Raman cross-section and non-linear susceptibility for the 151 cm^-1 band were measured.     

Amplified backward scattering in LiNbO3:Fe

We study the characteristics of the amplified back-scattered light in a LiNbO₃:Fe crystal cut normal to the optic axis when it is illuminated with a linearly polarized parallel beam of monochromatic light. The scattered light forms different patterns depending on the direction of vibration of the incident beam. The incident beam and the back-scattered beams interfere and generate numerous ‘noisy’ gratings in the volume of the crystal which diffract and amplify selectivity the weak scattered beams. This study is of practical importance since a normally cut LiNbO₃:Fe crystal may be used as a self-starting non-linear adaptive mirror in laser cavities.     

光折变晶体LiNbO_3:Fe中的特殊散射现象

用柱面透镜把经针孔滤波器扩束的激光束沿某一个方向聚焦成细丝状(或长条状),细丝状光束垂直入射到LiNbO_3:Fe晶体上,在远场位置观察散射光.我们发现光散射的方向与晶体的c轴方向不一致,不仅沿着晶体的c轴方向有散射光出现,沿光束的条形方向也出现很强的散射光.     

Photorefractive properties of MnO-doped near stoichiometric LiNbO3 crystals

In this paper, photorefractive properties of MnO-doped near stoichiometric LiNbO₃ (SLN) were studied. The SLN crystals doped with different concentration of Mn ions have been grown by the top-seeded-solution-growth method by adding K₂O flux to Li₂O-Nb₂O₅ melt. The crystal structures were analyzed by the UV-vis spectra and IR spectra. The photorefractive properties of SLN were experimentally studied by using two-beam coupling. The results of the two-wave coupling experiments showed that, with a He-Ne laser of 632.8 nm wavelength, the MnO-doped SLN crystals had long writing time and long erasure time constants, and the dynamic range (M/#), sensitivity (S), and diffraction efficiency were dependent on the doping concentration.     

Emission characteristics of Er in vapor-transport-equilibrated Er/Zn-codoped LiNbO3 crystals

Polarized visible and infrared emission characteristics of Er³⁺ ions in vapor-transport-equilibration (VTE)-treated LiNbO₃ crystals codoped with different concentrations of Zn and Er were investigated in comparison with corresponding as-grown crystals. The results show that the VTE treatment leads to substantial spectral changes of Er³⁺ emissions at 0.65, 0.98 and 1.5 μm regions, and the spectral changes in the 0.98 and 1.5 μm regions appear to be Zn-concentration-dependent. It is concluded in combination with X-ray powder diffraction results and optical absorption characteristics reported previously that the VTE treatment resulted in crystalline phase transformation with respect to Er³⁺ ions from original LiNbO₃ to ErNbO₄ phase in all crystals studied. The formation of the ErNbO₄ phase and the Zn²⁺ codopants are responsible for the VTE-induced substantial spectral changes. The emission characteristics of the ErNbO₄ precipitates in the Zn/Er-codoped crystals are found to be very different from those of the ErNbO₄ precipitates in the only Er-doped crystal in the infrared region, and the difference is attributed to the influence of the Zn²⁺ codopant on the Er³⁺ ion environment. The mechanism of the crystalline phase transformation is qualitatively explained from the viewpoint of the declined solubility of Er³⁺ ion in a Li-rich LiNbO₃ crystal and from the phase diagram of Li₂O-Nb₂O₅ system.     

Effects of forming gas annealing on LiNbO3 single crystals

Z-cut congruent LiNbO₃ single crystals were annealed in 95%N₂+5%H₂ at high temperatures. X-ray diffraction showed that 2θ of (0 0 0 6) peak is obviously reduced by 0.6° and 1.0° for the samples annealed at 600 and 900 °C, respectively. A new peak appears at the high-energy side of O 1s spectrum in X-ray photoelelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses, and the leakage current is greatly increased. It is proposed that hydrogen is incorporated in LiNbO₃ single crystals through forming gas annealing at temperatures up to 900 °C and exists in LiNbO₃ as a proton bound to an oxygen ion through O-H bond with its electron donated.     

Luminescence kinetics of LiNbO3:Yb3+-Er3+, LiNbO3:Er3+, and LiNbO3:Yb3+ crystals under selective excitations in the impurity subsystem

The results of investigations of luminescent radiations’ kinetic characteristics for LiNbO₃:Yb³⁺-Er³⁺, LiNbO₃:Er³⁺, and LiNbO₃:Yb³⁺ crystals under optical excitations at 532 nm and 1064 nm wavelengths are presented. The shapes and times of rise and damping of luminescent signals at 550 nm, 980 nm and 1555 nm wavelengths under selective excitations in the impurity subsystem of the investigated materials are determined. Comparison of the temporal characteristics of luminescent responses of LiNbO₃ crystals doped separately with Yb³⁺ and Er³⁺ ions with those of the LiNbO₃:Yb³⁺-Er³⁺ crystal allows identifying the contributions from different energy transfer processes of optical excitation taking place in the impurity subsystem of the material.     

Optical behaviour of VTE treated near stoichiometric LiNbO3 crystals

Near stoichiometric LiNbO₃ crystal wafers of thickness up to 2 mm were prepared by vapour transport equilibration technique (VTE) at various process temperatures. Crystals were characterised by measurement of the UV absorption edge, refractive index, second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency, and conoscopy pattern analysis. The comparison of VTE treated crystals show that the blue shift in cut off wavelength occurred with the increasing process temperature (i.e. increasing Li/Nb ratio). The refractive indices were found decreasing with increasing process temperature of VTE samples. The SHG efficiency increases in the range of 1.98-2.3 times for the VTE processed samples with respected to congruent crystals. Conoscopy pattern reveals the optical homogeneity of the VTE treated crystal.     

Theoretical explanation of g factors for Ti ions in LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 crystals

The EPR g factors g_// and g_⊥ for Ti³⁺ ions at the trigonal octahedral Li⁺ sites of LiNbO₃ and LiTaO₃ crystals are calculated from the third-order perturbation formulas of g factors for 3d¹ ion in trigonal symmetry. In the calculations, the crystal-field parameters are obtained from the structural data by using the superposition model. The calculated values are in reasonable agreement with the observed values. The results are discussed.     

Ultra-high-speed LiNbO3 modulators

This paper overviews ultra-high-speed optical modulators fabricated on LiNbO₃ substrate, which are used in large-capacity optical transmission systems.     

Light-induced acoustic effect in LiNbO3：Fe：Ce crystals

The phenomena of acoustic emission in LiNbO3：Fe：Ce crystals have been observed in the process of light-induced quasi-breakdown. It is found that the ultra-high frequency acoustic signal introduced into the crystal is modulated by the low frequency acoustic waves. Its frequency increases with the increase of the intensity of incident light and its jump period of breakdown is the same as that of the photovoltaic current Ic, the change of light-induced refractive index △n and the diffracted light intensity L. This phenomenon has been analysed in this paper, which is caused by the inverse piezoelectric strain effect of the jump of space charge field during the quasi-breakdown.     

Ultraviolet laser-induced photovoltaic effects in miscut ferroelectric LiNbO3 single crystals

This paper investigates the photovoltaic properties of miscut LiNbO 3 single crystal with different thicknesses under irradiation of a 248 nm ultraviolet laser pulse with 20 ns duration without an applied bias.Nanosecond photovoltaic response is observed and faster rise time is obtained in thinner samples.In accord with the 248 nm laser duration,the full width at half maximum of the photovoltaic signals keeps a constant of ～ 20 ns.With decrease of the crystal thickness,the photovoltaic sensitivity was improved rapidly at first and then decreased,and the maximum photovoltage occurred at 0.38 mm-thick single crystal.The present results demonstrate that decreasing the LiNbO3 single crystal thickness can obtain faster response time and improve the photovoltaic sensitivity.     

Light scattering by polaritons associated with ordinary photons in LiNbO3

Polaritons described by the dispersion curve of ordinary photons in LiNbO₃ have been observed photo-electrically by Raman scattering. The agreement with the dispersion branch calculated by theory is shown to be quite satisfactory.     

Stoichiometry dependence of the OH- absorption band in LiNbO3 crystals

Hydrogen in the form of OH^- ions can be incorporated into LiNbO₃ single crystals during the growth process. The infrared absorption band due to the OH^- defects has been measured at room temperature and a considerable change of the band shape has been observed depending on the crystal composition. The structure of the band found in nearly stoichiometric crystals indicates three slightly different proton sites which can be explained on the basis of the LiNbO₃ crystal structure.     

Degenarate four-wave mixing in LiNbO3 and LiTaO3

Continuous wave generation of complex conjugate wavefront via four-wave mixing in LiNbO₃ and LiTaO₃ with diffusion non-linearity is studied. Strong anisotropy of the degenarate four-wave mixing is observed and explained.     

OH impurities in co-doped LiNbO3:Cr :ZnO congruent crystals

Infrared optical absorption has been used to study OH⁻impurities into congruent co-doped LiNbO₃:Cr³⁺:ZnO crystals doped with different Zn²⁺ concentration. The OH⁻ IR absorption spectra present three bands that can be associated with different OH⁻ complex centres available in the lattice. For crystals with lower Zn²⁺ concentrations (<4.7%) only one IR absorption band centred at 2867 nm (3490 cm⁻¹) is reported which is associated with the OH⁻ unperturbed vibration. For crystals with higher Zn²⁺ concentrations (>4.7%), two new bands associated with OH⁻vibration in distortion environment are reported. These bands are centred at 2827 nm (3537 cm⁻¹) and 2847 nm (3512 cm⁻¹) and can be associated with OH⁻-Zn²⁺ and Cr³⁺(Li⁺)-OH⁻-Zn²⁺(Int.) complex centres, respectively. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) has been used to identify the Cr³⁺ centres in the lattice of the doped LiNbO₃:ZnO crystals.     

Soft vibrational mode in LiNbO3 and LiTaO3

The temperature dependence of the far-infrared reflectivity as obtained with a scanning interferometer for the A₁- and E-type modes of both LiNbO₃ and LiTaO₃ is reported in the ferroelectric phase. Results of a Kramers-Kronig analysis are compared with Raman and neutron scattering data which are controversial about the existence of a soft vibrational mode. For LiTaO₃, spectra are obtained 300 K above the Curie temperature, in the paraelectric phase. The lowest-frequency A₁ (TO) mode is unambiguously found as soft and becomes rapidly overdamped.     

Growth and optical properties of In:Nd:LiNbO3 crystals

In, Nd double-doped LiNbO₃ (LN) crystals have been grown for the first time. Their infrared (IR) transmission spectra were measured and discussed to investigate their structure and defects. The optical damage resistance of Nd:In:LiNbO₃ crystals were characterized by straightly observing transmission facula distortion method. The optical damage resistance of In (4.0 mol%):Nd:LiNbO₃ was much higher than that of Nd:LiNbO₃. The defects were discussed in this paper to explain the optical damage resistance in the In:Nd:LiNbO₃ crystals.