Electro-optic and dielectric properties of zirconium-doped congruent lithium-niobate crystals

Measurements of electro-optic and dielectric properties in Zirconium (Zr)- doped lithium niobate (LN:Zr) crystals are performed as functions of the dopant concentration in the range 0.0-2.5 mol%. The clamped and unclamped electro-optic coefficients r222 of Zr-doped LN and the corresponding dielectric permittivity as well, have been experimentally determined and compared with the results obtained in undoped congruent LN crystals. We show that the electro-optic and dielectric properties present a kink around 2 mol% of zirconium which seems to be the "threshold" concentration required to strongly reduce the photorefractive effect. All reported results confirm that the LN:Zr is a very promising candidate for several non linear devices. © 2014 Optical Society of America.