DOUBLE-LAYERS OF SINGLE DOMAINS FORMED BY RAPID THERMAL ANNEALING OF PROTON-EXCHANGED LITAO3

A double layer of single domains with opposing polarizations has been formed on both c faces by rapid thermal annealing of proton-exchanged z-cut LiTaO3 at above the Curie temperature. The formed top single-dom ain layers have inward-directed polarization and the single-domain lay ers underneath have outward-directed polarization. The domain structur e development for an annealing range from 2 s to 10 min has been inves tigated. The results are discussed in relation to recently proposed mo dels for the domain-inversion mechanisms in LiTaO3 and LiNbO3. (C) 199 5 American Institute of Physics.