Zinc oxide doping effects in polarization switching of lithium niobate

We report a pulsed-field analysis on the 180° domain reversal process in Z-cut congruent grown lithium niobate (LiNbO3) doped with zinc oxide at concentration CZnO>5 mol %. The polarization switching field is found to decrease with the ZnO doping with a threshold (Eth) and internal (Eint) field as low as 2.5 and 0.5 kV/mm, respectively, resultant on 8 mol % ZnO doped LiNbO3. The substantial decrease of Eth and Eint is ascribed to the suppression of nonstoichiometric point defects by the substitution of Zn2+ ions in the lattice site. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.