Comparative Investigations of Nanohardness and Impurity Distribution Profiles of Lithium Niobate Single Crystals Diffusion Doped by Copper Ions

Abstract

Spatial changes of optical and mechanical properties of doped lithium niobate (LN, LiNbO3) single crystals are investigated. The crystals are doped with copper ions by thermal diffusion at elevated temperatures. LiNbO3 crystal absorption spectra are recorded in a direction perpendicular to the direction of diffusion. The concentrations of copper ions are calculated using the Smakula–Dexter formula. To determine a relation between changes of optical and mechanical properties, the hardness profiles of the doped crystals are investigated by the nanoindentation technique. Young's modulus and hardness are specified in accordance with the Oliver–Pharr method.

Investigation of the Interface of Y3Fe5O12/Gd3Ga5O12 Structure Obtained by the Liquid Phase Epitaxy

“…This method was successfully used previously in the works dedicated to studies of optical properties changes caused by diffusion in lithium niobate and GGG single crystals. [ 11,13 ]…”

“…This method was successfully used previously in the works dedicated to studies of optical properties changes caused by diffusion in lithium niobate and GGG single crystals. [11,13] The methods of electron probe microanalysis and micro-Raman scattering were used for determination of the crystal composition and structural changes within the interface region.…”

“…At the same time, in papers in Refs. [11][12][13] authors propose to investigate the interdiffusion layers within lithium niobate and gadolinium gallium garnet in "parallel" geometry. In this case the probe of analytical instrument operates in the direction parallel to the surface (on the cross section of the epitaxial structure) through which the diffusion occurs and the probes scanning directory coincides with the direction of diffusion.…”