MgO:LiNBO3 Pockells Cell Crystal

Lithium niobate - LiNbO3 is a useful material for optoelectronics. Many technologies are based on this material which has unique piezo-electric, optical and photoelastic properties while exhibiting mechanical and chemical stability. The combination of excellent electro-optical, acousto-optical and non linear optical properties make an attractive host material for application in integrated optics.

Lithium niobate is a colorless solid, and it is insoluble in water. It has a trigonal crystal system, which lacks inversion symmetry and displays ferroelectricity, the Pockels effect, the piezoelectric effect, photoelasticity and nonlinear optical polarizability. Lithium niobate has negative uniaxial birefringence which depends slightly on the stoichiometry of the crystal and on temperature. It is transparent for wavelengths between 350 and 5200 nanometers. Lithium niobate can be doped with magnesium oxide, which increases its resistance to optical damage (also known as photorefractive damage). Other available dopants are iron, zinc, hafnium, copper, gadolinium, erbium, yttrium, manganese and boron.