Synthesis of stoichiometric LiNbO3 nanopowder through a wet chemical method

Stoichiometric lithium niobate powder which are used as feeding material in near stoichometric LiNbO₃ crystal growth have been successfully prepared from commercial niobium hydroxide Nb(OH)₅] and nontoxic DL‐malic acid by a wet chemical method. The synthesis temperature was pre‐determined by the results from thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis. The structure and morphology of the as‐prepared samples were observed by using the infrared spectroscopy and the scanning electron microscopy. The X‐ray diffraction experiment showed that lithium niobate powder had an ilmenite structure, and its unit cell parameters were calculated to be a = b = 0.5140 nm, c = 1.3738 nm, and V = 0.3144 nm³. The melting point of the synthesized powder is 1239 °C and Curie temperature T_c is 1122 °C. This synthesis method would be helpful to grow the near‐stoichiometric LiNbO₃ crystal with double crucible techniques. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)