LOCAL LATTICE STRUCTURE AND DOPANT OCCUPANCY OF DOPED LITHIUM NIOBATE CRYSTALS

We present a systematic study of the local distortions produced upon doping metal ions to lithium niobate (LiNbO3, LN) single crystals. The impurity bond length can be predicted by a radial force constant model, when the dopant ions substitute for Li+ or Nb5+ ions in the LN crystallographic frame. From the viewpoint of constituent chemical bonds, the lattice energy can be described as the function of bond valence on the basis of Born-Haber cycle for the formation of an ionic oxide MmOn. The dopant occupancy in the LN matrix can be determined by comparing the deviation of its lattice energy in different locations at both Li+ and Nb5+ sites, on the basis of the bond length relaxation of impurity ions, which can agree well with the experiment results. The effect of impurity ions on the property modification of LN crystals is also discussed according to our calculated results.