Radiation Modification of Optical Characteristics of LiNbO<sub>3</sub>:Zn and LiNbO<sub>3</sub>:Mg Crystals
Mikhail Palatnikov,
Nikolay Sidorov,
Sergey Panasjuk,
Natalya Teplyakova,
Olga Makarova
Affiliations
Mikhail Palatnikov
Tananaev Institute of Chemistry-Subdivision of the Federal Research Centre, Kola Science Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 184206 Apatity, Russia
Nikolay Sidorov
Tananaev Institute of Chemistry-Subdivision of the Federal Research Centre, Kola Science Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 184206 Apatity, Russia
Sergey Panasjuk
St. Petersburg State Institute of Technology, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, 190013 St. Petersburg, Russia
Natalya Teplyakova
Tananaev Institute of Chemistry-Subdivision of the Federal Research Centre, Kola Science Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 184206 Apatity, Russia
Olga Makarova
Tananaev Institute of Chemistry-Subdivision of the Federal Research Centre, Kola Science Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 184206 Apatity, Russia
The modification of the optical characteristics of LiNbO3:Zn and LiNbO3:Mg crystals grown by the Czochralski method was investigated using β and γ radiation. The photorefractive effect was found to be inhibited by ionizing radiation in the LiNbO3:Zn ([ZnO] ≈ 2.1 mol%) crystal, which belonged to a below-threshold concentration range. The inhibition was attributed to a stepwise radiation annealing of charged defects. Ionizing radiation increased the general optical uniformity of above-threshold crystals LiNbO3:Zn ([ZnO] ≈ 5.9 mol%) and LiNbO3:Mg([MgO] ≈ 5.6 mol%). In addition, we determined that radiation annealing substantially influenced photorefraction dynamics in lightly doped LiNbO3:Zn ([ZnO] ≈ 0.1 mol%) crystals, which widens their application areas.
