Growth and evaluation of lithium niobate crystals containing nonphotorefractive dopants

Abstract

Based on the lithium vacancy defect structure model of non- stoichiometric lithium niobate, a correlation was found between the OH absorption band and dopant charge. In addition, the threshold concentration for suppressing the photorefractive effect in Sc doped lithium niobate was evaluated using phase-matching temperature measurements. It was also shown that hafnium can suppress the photorefractive effect. A criterion for searching for new nonphotorefractive dopants has been formulated. New possible candidates are suggested and crystals of some of them have been grown.