Growth and Characterization of a Boron-Doped Lithium Niobate Single Crystal

Abstract

This paper reports a process for the growth of optically homogeneous lithium niobate single crystals containing boron as a dopant. A LiNbO3:B crystal has been grown by the Czochralski technique using a single-phase growth charge synthesized from a Nb2O5:B precursor and lithium carbonate. We have assessed the optical quality of the crystal by a high-speed method from the number of scattering centers, evaluated its single-domain state by piezoacoustic measurements, and calculated its d333 piezoelectric modulus component. The results demonstrate that the crystal has a high degree of optical uniformity and is single-domain. The proposed method for LiNbO3:B crystal growth can serve as a basis of a commercial-scale process for the preparation of doped lithium niobate single crystals for various engineering applications.