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LiNbO3 MgO:LiNbO3 LiTaO3 Crystals

Lithium niobate (LiNbO3) crystal is used as frequency doublers for wavelength > 1 μm and optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) pumped at 1064 nm as well as quasi-phase-matched (QPM) devices, E-O modulator (EOM) and A-O modulator(AOM) due to LiNbO3 Crystal's large Electro-Optic (E-O) and Acousto-Optic (A-O) coefficients.

LiNbO3 Basic Properties

Crystal Structure: Trigonal, space group R 3c
Cell Parameters: a = 0.515, c = 13.863, Z = 6
Melting Point: 1255 +/-5°C
Curie Point: 1140 +/-5°C
Mohs Hardness: 5
Density: 4.64 g/cm^3
Absorption Coefficient: ~ 0.1%/cm @ 1064 nm
Solubility: insoluble in water
Relative Dielectric Constant: ε₁₁/ε₀: 85, ε₃₃/ε₀: 29.5
Thermal Expansion Coefficients: //a 2.0 x 10E-6 /K , //c 2.2 x 10E-6 /K@ 25°C
Thermal Conductivity 38 W /m /K @ 25°C

MgO:LiNbO3 Crystal

Compared with LiNbO3 crystal, MgO:LiNbO3 crystal exhibits particular advantages for NCPM frequency doubling (SHG) of Nd:Lasers, mixing (SFG) and optical parametric oscillators (OPOs). The SHG efficiencies of over 65% for pulsed Nd:YAG lasers and 45% for CW Nd:YAG lasers have been achieved in MgO:LiNbO3 Crystals respectively. MgO:LiNbO3 is also good for optical parametric oscillators(OPOs) and amplifiers (OPAs), quasi-phase-matched doublers and integrated waveguides

MgO:LiNbO3 Features:

- High damage threshold
- Noncritical phase matching-NCPM at room temperature
- Broad transparency range
- Excellent E-O and NLO properties
- Good mechanical and chemical properties

MgO:LiNbO3 has similar effective nonlinear coefficients to pure LiNbO3. MgO:LiNbO3 crystal Sellmeier equations (for 5mo1% MgO dopant, λ in µm):
n_o² = 4.8762 + 0.11554 / ( λ² - 0.04674 ) - 0.033119 λ²
n_e² = 4.5469 + 0.094779 / ( λ² - 0.04439 ) - 0.026721 λ²

Periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) is developed for quasi phase matching of the LiNbO3 crystal. PPLN expanped the functionality of LiNbO3 as OPO and SHG applications. To get stable operation, PPLN is usually put inside a crystal oven with temperature controller, because the inverted (poled) portions of the crystal is sensitive to the temperature changing.