Abnormal Domain Growth in Lithium Niobate with Surface Layer Modified by Proton Exchange

Formation of abnormal domain shapes was studied in single crystalline LiNbO3 with surface layer modified by proton exchange. It has been shown that the isolated domain shape is very sensitive to the electric field: 1) three-rayed stars and concave polygons appear in low field, 2) hexagonal domains form in moderate field, 3) oriented domain rays grow in high field. The transformation from concave to convex polygon and the fast growth of narrow domain rays in front of the growing domain wall were investigated. The obtained abnormal behavior was attributed to non-effective external screening of depolarization field caused by artificial dielectric layer.