Congruent LiNbO 3 Crystal Periodically Poled by Applying External Field

When an electric field higher than a characteristic coercive field is applied to a ferroelectric such as LiNbO₃, the orientation of the spontaneous polarization is reversed, which causes the reversal of the sign of odd-rank tensor properties such as electro-optic and nonlinear optic coefficients. A fabrication process of insulator and periodic external field assisted poling of a z-cut LiNbO₃ have been optimized for a periodic 180° phase inversion along z-axis. The poling jig and the poling control system, fully controlled by a computer, for high quality and reproducible PPLN fabrication have been devised. Periodically polarization reversed PPLN was adjusted based on the fabricated thickness of insulator. The poling structure of PPLN was observed under a microscope after etching PPLN samples by an etching solution (HF:HNO₃=1 : 2) for about 15 min.