EPITAXIAL LINBO3 THIN-FILMS GROWN BY THE ECLIPSE METHOD

LiNbO3 thin films were grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) with a s hadow mask, which is called the ''eclipse method''. Epitaxial twin-fre e films were obtained using a single crystal target without a postanne aling process. The films had very smooth surface without the particula te problem, which is common in films grown by conventional PLD. The ro ot-mean-square surface roughness was only 3 nm, and optical propagatio n loss was as low as 3 dB/cm.