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Features of Defect Structure and Photoluminescence of Nominally Pure LiNbO3 Crystals Grown from a Boron-Doped Charge

  • ELECTRONIC MATERIALS
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Inorganic Materials: Applied Research Aims and scope

Abstract

Features of the defect structure of nominally pure LiNbO3:B crystals grown by the Czochralski method from a charge of congruent composition containing 0.08 and 0.12 wt % of boron have been studied using X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence. The boron concentration in crystals is at the level of trace amounts of metallic impurities, amounting to ~10–4 wt %. It has been found that in LiNbO3:B crystals, the lengths of O–O, Me–O, and Me–Me (Me—Li, Nb) bonds of oxygen-octahedral MeO6 clusters responsible for the ferroelectric and nonlinear optical properties of the crystal exhibit a significantly different order of arrangement along the polar axis of Me cations, vacancies, and point defects NbLi compared to the bond lengths for a nominally pure congruent crystal. Photoluminescence spectra indicate that the concentration of NbLi defects and transition metals, which act as deep electron traps responsible for the photorefraction, is lower in the studied LiNbO3:B crystals compared to a congruent crystal. These differences are believed to be a result of changes in the properties of the boron-containing melt, such as the formation of stable complexes between niobium and transition metal cations by chemically active boron, as well as the localization of trace amounts of boron within tetrahedral О4 voids of the LiNbO3 crystal structure.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tananaev Institute of Chemistry and Technology of Rare Elements and Mineral Raw Materials, Federal Research Center “Kola Scientific Center,” Russian Academy of Sciences, 184209, Apatity, Russia

    N. V. Sidorov, A. V. Kadetova, M. V. Smirnov, R. A. Titov, N. A. Teplyakova & M. N. Palatnikov

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  1. N. V. Sidorov
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  2. A. V. Kadetova
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  3. M. V. Smirnov
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Sidorov, N.V., Kadetova, A.V., Smirnov, M.V. et al. Features of Defect Structure and Photoluminescence of Nominally Pure LiNbO3 Crystals Grown from a Boron-Doped Charge. Inorg. Mater. Appl. Res. 14, 1228–1236 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2075113323050441

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