The past and present of lithium niobate

Since the Norwegian mineralogist Zachariasian conducted preliminary research on the structural properties of lithium niobate in 1928, the research history of lithium niobate has been nearly a hundred years. 

Lithium niobate is an all-round crystal in the field of optoelectronics. It has rich optoelectronic properties such as electro-optics, second-order frequency doubling, pyroelectricity, piezoelectricity, photovoltaics, etc.; at the same time, lithium niobate has a wide band gap, which is in the visible to mid-infrared wavelength range. 

Its light loss is extremely low; in addition, its physical and chemical properties are stable, and high-quality large-size single crystals can be grown relatively easily; its defect structure is rich, and the crystal properties can be effectively controlled by means of chemical composition and element doping.

 At present, lithium niobate has been widely used in the preparation of various optoelectronic devices such as surface acoustic wave filters, electro-optic Q-switches, and optical frequency converters. In recent years, with the rapid development of micro-nano technology, the local effects exhibited by the micro-nano scale and the new physics and new effects produced have brought new development opportunities for the research and development of new lithium niobate optoelectronic devices. At present, people have made breakthroughs in the preparation of lithium niobate nano-films, integrated photonic circuits, metasurfaces, etc., laying the foundation for new applications of lithium niobate micro-nano photonics and devices.