Lithium niobate (LiNbO3, LN) nonlinear crystals are versatile materials in the fields of photonics and optoelectronics. It possesses good nonlinear, nonlinear, piezoelectric, electro-optic, and acousto-optic characteristics. LN crystals are frequently employed as electro-optic modulators, Q-switches, and modulators for optical fibers in Nd:YAG, Nd:YLF, and Ti:Sapphire lasers. With the development of optoelectronic technology, now it has a wide range of applications in both civil and national military technology. Alfa Chemistry is a professional customizer of nonlinear crystals. We will methodically and gently walk customers through the online customization process for LN nonlinear crystals.
Advantages of LN Crystals
LN crystals are important multifunctional crystals with good nonlinear optical properties. They can accomplish non-critical phase matching and have a wide range of transparency (from 420 nm to 5200 nm), good optical homogeneity, high mechanical and chemical stability, large nonlinear optical coefficients, and electro-optical, acousto-optical, and other coefficients. LN crystals have played a significant role in the development of optical waveguide materials as electro-optical crystals.
Fig 1. Crystallographic a-b plane of Zn-doped lithium niobate. (Xue D, et al. 2000)
Doped LN materials have a wide range of applications. Nd:Mg:LN crystals can achieve the self-multiplication effect, Fe:LN crystals can be utilized in optical bulk holographic storage, and Mg:LN crystals can significantly increase the anti-laser damage threshold and boost the use of lithium niobate crystals in nonlinear optics.
Properties of LN Crystals
| Physical Properties | |
|---|---|
| Lattice Parameter | a=b=5.148 Å, c=13.863 Å |
| Density | 4.64 g/cm3 |
| Melting Point | 1250 ℃ |
| Curie Temperature | ~ 1140 ℃ |
| Mohs Hardness | 5 |
| Thermal Conductivity | 5.6 W/m/K at 300 K |
| Thermal Expansion Coefficients | ax=11x10-6/℃, ay=9x10-6/℃, az=0.6x10-6/℃ |
| Refractive Indices | N0 = 2.286; ne = 2.203 @632.8 nm |
| Nonlinear Properties | |
| NLO Coefficients | d33 = 34.4 pm/V d31 = d15 = 5.95 pm/V d22 = 3.07 pm/V |
| Effective NLO Coefficients | deff =5.7 pm/V for frequency doubling 1300 nm deff =5.3 pm/V for OPO pumped at 1064 nm deff =17.6 pm/V for quasi-phase-matched structure |
| Electro-Optic Coefficients | γT33 = 32 pm/V, γs33 = 31 pm/V γT31 = 10 pm/V, γs31 = 8.6 pm/V γT22 = 6.8 pm/V, γs22 = 3.4 pm/V |
| Sellmeier Equations | n02(λ)=4.9048+0.11768/(λ2-0.04750)-0.027169×λ2 ne2(λ)=4.5820+0.099169/(λ2-0.04443)-0.021950×λ2 |
| Alfa Chemistry offers LN specification | |
| Dimension | Upon customer request |
| Dimension Tolerance | Dimension+0/-0.1 mm, L±0.1mm |
| Cutting Angle Tolerance | △θ≤±0.25°,△φ≤±0.25° |
| Flatness | λ/10 @ 632.8nm |
| Surface Quality | 10/5 per MIL-O-13830A |
| Clear Aperture | > 90% |
| Damage Threshold | 750MW/cm2 at 1064nm, TEM00, 10ns, 10Hz |
| Coating | AR/HR coating upon customer's request |
| Quality Warranty Period | One year under proper use |
Why Choose Alfa Chemistry?
Customers can customize state-of-the-art LN nonlinear crystals from Alfa Chemistry. The size can be altered to suit the demands of the customer. Our 5%MgO doped LN crystals for Q-switching with lateral E-O modulation, second harmonic generation (SHG), sum frequency generation (SFG), different frequency generation (DFG), or optical parameter generation (OPA) are available in addition to our premium pure LN crystals (OPA). Please get in touch with us for additional customized doped LN crystals.
Fig 2. (a) XRD pattern of the LiNbO3 nanowires, (b) low magnification TEM image of the LiNbO3 nanowires. (Chen Z, et al. 2012)
If you need technical advice, please contact our technical team to learn more about our high-quality services.
References
- Xue D, et al. (2000). "Chemical Bond Analysis of The Second Order Nonlinear Optical Behavior of Zn-Doped Lithium Niobate." Journal of Physics Condensed Matter. 12(28): 167-173.
- Chen Z, et al. (2012). "Piezoelectric Properties of Rhombic LiNbO3 Nanowires." RSC Adv. 2: 7380-7383.