Commercialization of stoichiometric LiNbO{sub}3 and LiTaO{sub}3 for optical devices

摘要

Stiochiometric LiNbO{sub}3 and LiTaO{sub}3 single crystals have been commercialized by a spin-out company from NIMS called "Oxide Corporation." Stoichiometric crystals are superior 10 their conventional congruently grown counterparts in almost every respect, and will find widespread use in telecommunications, optical storage and frequency doubling and parametric conversion. Unlike congruently grown crystals which are typically lithium difficult, atoichiometric materials maintain the almost ideal 50/50 lithium to niobium ratio, thereby reducing the defect density by two orders of magnitude. This in turn leads to larger nonlinear and electro-optic coefficients, improved transparency in the UV, increased resistance to optical damage, and most importantly for nonlinear and parametric processes, factors of between 5 and 10 reduction in the poling field required. Commercial availability of these materials has been long awaited, and the expectation is that improved device performance can be expected imminently.