Zinc oxide doping effects in polarization switching of lithium niobate

We report a pulsed-field analysis on the 180 degrees domain reversal proces s in Z-cut congruent grown lithium niobate (LiNbO3) doped with zinc oxide a t concentration C-ZnO>5 mol %. The polarization switching field is found to decrease with the ZnO doping with a threshold (E-th) and internal (E-int) field as low as 2.5 and 0.5 kV/mm, respectively, resultant on 8 mol % ZnO d oped LiNbO3. The substantial decrease of E-th and E-int is ascribed to the suppression of nonstoichiometric point defects by the substitution of Zn2ions in the lattice site. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.