Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8bljj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-03T05:08:56.071Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Properties and microstructure of thin LiNbO3 films prepared by a sol-gel process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

D. P. Partlow
Affiliation:
Westinghouse Research and Development Center, 1310 Beulah Road, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15235
J. Greggi
Affiliation:
Westinghouse Research and Development Center, 1310 Beulah Road, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15235
Get access

Abstract

Thin LiNbO3 films were prepared from polymerized sol-gel precursor solutions having various concentrations and water:alkoxide ratios in an effort to investigate the effects of these and other processing variables on the resultant film properties and microstructure. Films deposted on silicon substrates were mostly amorphous when pyrolyzed at 435°C for 30 min. Randomly oriented polycrystalline films having distinctive microstnietures were produced using longer heating times or higher temperatures. All of the films exhibited low refractive indices due to porosity, which was attributed to the low level of hydrolysis water required to produce stable polymeric precursor solutions. When single-crystal LiNbO4 was used as the substrate, epitaxial growth of the film resulted. This ideal case establishes the feasibility of producing epitaxial films via sol-gel processing. All films were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and thin-film x-ray diffraction patterns.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1Kondo, S., Sugii, K., Miyazawa, S., and Uehara, S., J. Cryst. Growth 46, 314 (1979).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2Hewig, G. H., Jain, K., Sequeda, F. O., Tom, R., and Wang, P., Thin Solid Films 88, 67 (1982).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3Fushimi, S. and Sugii, K., J. Appl. Phys. 13, 1895 (1974).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4Miyazawa, S., Appl. Phys. Lett. 23, 198 (1973).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5Betts, R. A. and Pitt, C. W., Electron. Lett. 21, 960 (1985).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6Thomas, I. M., Opt. News 12, 8 (1986), and references therein.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7Yoldas, E. E. (private communication).Google Scholar
8Wallace, C. A. and Ward, R. C. C., J. Appl. Crystallogr. 8, 255 (1975).Google Scholar
9Wallace, C. A. and Ward, R. C. C., J. Appl. Crystallogr. 8, 545 (1975).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10Yoldas, B. E. and Partlow, D. P., Thin Solid Films 129, 1 (1985).CrossRefGoogle Scholar