Nanoscale backswitched domain patterning in lithium niobate

We demonstrate a promising method of nanoscale domain engineering, which allows us to fabricate regular nanoscale domain patterns consisting of strictly oriented arrays of nanodomains (diameter down to 30 nm and density up to 100 mu m(-2)) in lithium niobate. We produce submicron domain patterns through multiplication of the domain spatial frequency as compared with the electrode one. The fabrication techniques are based on controlled backswitched poling. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)01402-9].