Growth of Large Size Lithium Niobate Single Crystals of High Quality by Tilting-mirror-type Floating Zone Method

Large size high quality LiNbO₃ single crystals were grown successfully by tilting-mirror-type floating zone (TMFZ) technique. The grown crystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction, etch pits density measurement, Impedance analysis, Vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and UV-Visible spectrometry. The effect of mirror tilting during growth on the structural, electrical, optical properties and defect density of the LiNbO₃ crystals were investigated. It was found that the defect density in the crystals reduced for tilting the mirror in the TMFZ method. The chemical analysis revealed that the grown crystals were of high quality with uniform composition. The single crystals grown by TMFZ method contains no low-angle grain boundaries, indicating that they can be used for high efficiency optoelectronic devices.

Keywords
Lithium niobate; Laue technique; Floating zone technique; Defects; Optoelectronic materials