Commercialization of stoichiometric LiNbO/sub 3/ and LiTaO/sub 3/ for optical devices

Stoichiometric LiNbO/sub 3/ and LiTaO/sub 3/ single crystals have been commercialized by a spin-out company from NIMS called "Oxide Corporation." Stoichiometric crystals are superior to their conventional congruently grown counterparts in almost every respect, and will find widespread use in tele-communications, optical storage and frequency doubling and parametric conversion. Unlike congruently grown crystals which are typically lithium deficient, stoichiometric materials maintain the almost ideal 50/50 lithium to niobium ratio, thereby reducing the defect density by two orders of magnitude. This in turn leads to larger nonlinear and electro-optic coefficients, improved transparency in the UV, increased resistance to optical damage, and most importantly for nonlinear and parametric processes, factors of between 5 and 10 reduction in the poling field required. Commercial availability of these materials has been long awaited, and the expectation is that improved device performance can be expected imminently.