THE GROWTH OF POTASSIUM LITHIUM-NIOBATE (KLN) WITH LOW NB2O5 CONTENT

The growths by the slow cooling and TSSG method are compared, and the optical properties of KLN are examined. By using both the Pt plate as the nucleation site and the slow cooling method with temperature fluct uation, KLN single crystals of size 1 cm could be obtained. TSSG metho d was also applied to grow KLN single crystals using the seed crystals grown by the previous method. The existence of the growth band tells that the growth stage is controlled by the layer growth model. The Cur ie temperature, T-c, was 498 degrees C for the composition in this stu dy, and the crystals grown in this study show the behavior of diffuse phase transition to a little extent. Examination of KLN single crystal s with a spectrophotometer in the infrared range shows an absorption p eak at 3495 cm(-1) and this suggests the presence of OH- absorption ba nd in KLN. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.