Lithium Niobate Crystal (LiNbO3), is one of the few man-made crystals. Lithium niobate is an important ferroelectric material. It possesses a series of special proper-ties such as excellent piezoelectric, electro-optic, acousto-optic, thermoelectric, photorefractive and nonlinear optical properties. It is widely used in optical waveguides, optical modulators, O-switches, nonvolatile memories, SAW and second harmonic generators.
The low acoustic loss and high surface-wave velocity make LiNbO3 a good candidate for surface acoustic devices, such as SAW resonators, SAW filters a, SAW delay lines and SAW signal-compressors/expanders. As a piezo-electric transducer it is widely used in mirco-positioning, sensing and modulation applications.
Property | Value |
Chemical formula | LiNbO3 |
Crystal structure | trigonal |
Space group | R3C |
Point group | 3m |
Molecular Weight | 147.85 |
Density | 4.65 g/cm3 |
Crystal Class | Rhombohedral |
Moh’s Hardness | 5 |
Fracture Toughness3 | c-face |
x-face | 1.07 MPam1/2 |
y-face | 1.17 MPam1/2 |
optical homogeneity | ~ 5 x 10-5 / cm |
Transparency range | 420-5200nm |
Transparency range | ~ 0.1 % / cm @ 1064 nm |
QM | Approx. 10000 |
QE | 1000 |
Melting Temperature | 1253°C |
Curie Point | 1150°C |
Thermal conductivity | ~ 5 W/m/K @ 25 °C |
Thermal Expansion (@ 25°C) | 15.4 x 10-6 /°C parallel to C-axis in a temperature range from 0°C to 110°C. |
7.5 x 10-6 /°C perpendicular to C-axis in a temperature range from 0°C to 110°C | |
Thermal Conductivity (@ 25°C) | 1 x 10-2 cal/(cm/sec/°C) |
Type Cut | X, Y, Z, 36°Y, 41°Y, 49°Y, 64°Y, 127.86°Y, 135°Y… |
Type Size(mm) | ≤4” |
Type Thickness(mm) | 0.2~1.0 |
Type Length(mm) | ≤300 |
Cut type | 36 °rotated y-cut | 163°rotated y-cut | 10°rotated y-cut | 41°X-cut | Z | |
Vibration mode | Quasi-extension | Quasi-shear | Quasi-extension | Quasi-shear | Cutting | Telescopic |
Sound speed(m/s) | 7340 | 4528 | 7063 | 4271 | 4795 | 7316 |
Electro mechanical coupling coefficient | 0.48 | 0.61 | 0.47 | 0.44 | 0.68 | 0.16 |
Wide transparency range
High homogeneity
Stable mechanical and chemical properties
Low absorption loss
SAW wafers
Laser frequency conversion optical device
Optical waveguide
Optical isolator
Holographic storage device
Orientation Tolerance | < 0.5° |
Parallelism | <20〞 |
Perpendicularity | 5ˊ |
Surface Quality | 10-5 (MIL-O-13830A) |
Wavefront Distortion | <λ/4@633 nm |
Surface Flatness | <λ/8 @633 nm |
Clear Aperture | >90% |
Thickness/Diameter Tolerance | ±0.05 mm |
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