Photoelectric fields in doped lithium niobate crystals

Abstract

Photoinduced light scattering (PILS) in nominally pure stoichiometric and congruent lithium niobate single crystals (LiNbO3), and ones doped with B³⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mg²⁺, Gd³⁺, Y³⁺, Er³⁺ cations was studied. All crystals have a relatively low effect of photorefraction and are promising materials for frequency conversion, electro-optical modulators and shutters. It was found that the photovoltaic and diffusion fields for some crystals have a maximum at a wavelength of 514.5 nm. All the crystals studied are characterized by a maximum of the integral intensity of the speckle structure of the PILS at a wavelength of 514.5 nm.