0000000000628148
AUTHOR
I. V. Biryukova
MICRO- AND NANO-STRUCTURES IN SINGLE CRYSTALS OF LITHIUM NIOBATE CONTAINING LANTHANIDE ADMIXTURES
ABSTRACT Micro-size domain structures in lithium niobate single crystals containing lanthanide (Gd, Tm, Sm, Lu) admixture, grown under stationary and non-stationary conditions are studied by efficient and flexible Thixomet® image analyser. Regular fractal-type domain structures observed along the three Y-axes of the hexagonal crystallographic set-up are assigned to pinning of the domain walls at defects created under conditions of imbalanced crystallization of the doped melt. Characteristic types of domains have been found analysing the configurations of domains on optical and atomic force microscopic images of surfaces of different crystallographic orientations.
Anomalies of dielectric properties and conductivity in single domain LiNbO3:Zn crystals
ABSTRACTA study of the temperature dependence of dielectric constant, conductivity, and piezoelectric modulus in the single-domain state of LiNbO3 crystals modified by Zn admixture at threshold concentration is reported. Unipolarity of the LiNbO3:Zn crystals is observed to increase after treatment of brand-new samples by high-temperature electro-diffusion annealing and by subsequent high-temperature annealing of short-circuited samples. The observed effects are explained as a result of meta-stable residual domains collapsing at high temperature the collapse being assisted by disintegration of charged clusters stabilizing domain walls. The rise of unipolarity is accompanied by anomalies on t…