Synthesis of SM3+-doped strontium barium niobate crystals in glass by samarium atom heat processing

摘要

New glasses giving the crystallization of Sm3+-doped SrxBa1-xNb2O6 (SBN) ferroelectrics have been developed in the Sm2O3-SrO-BaO-Nb2O5-B2O3 system, and the formation of SBN crystal dots and lines by continuous wave Nd:YAG laser (wavelength: 1064 nm, power: 1 W) irradiations, i.e., samarium atom heat processing, has been examined. The formation of Sm3+-doped SBN non-linear optical crystals is confirmed from X-ray diffraction analyses, micro-Raman scattering spectra, second harmonic generations, and photoluminescence spectra. Sm3+-doped SBN crystal dots with the diameters of 20-70 mu m and lines with the widths of 20-40 mu m are written at the surface of some glasses such as 10Sm(2)O(3) center dot 10SrO center dot 10BaO center dot 20Nb(2)O(5) center dot 50B(2)O(3) (mol %) by Nd:YAG laser irradiations with the irradiation times of 20-70 s for the dots and with the scanning speeds of 1-5 mu m/s for the lines. The present study suggests that the samarium atom heat processing has a potential for the patterning of optical waveguides consisting of ferroclectric SBN crystals in glass substrates. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.