The use of lithium niobate in signal filtering in TV sets and video cassette recorders is well established and it is finding increased application in optoelectronic modulation devices in DWDM (dense wavelength division multiplexing) fibre optic systems. This fully illustrated volume brings electronic engineers, materials scientists and physicists up to date by enlisting the expertise of active researchers and presenting their considered reviews.

This book covers new research on LiNbO3 including current studies on intrinsic and extrinsic point defects and the contribution of intrinsic defects to photoinduced charge transport. Applications of this material are also discussed.

With the use of ferroelectric materials in memory devices and the need for high-speed integrated optics devices, interest in ferroelectric thin films continues to grow. With their remarkable properties, such as energy nonvolatility, fast switching, radiative stability and unique optoacoustic and optoelectronic properties, Lithium Niobate-Based Heterostructures: Synthesis, properties and electron phenomena discusses why lithium niobate (LiNbO3) is one of the most promising of all ferroelectric materials. Based on years of study, this book presents the systematic characterization of substructure and electronic properties of a heterosystem formed in the deposition process of lithium niobate films onto the surface of silicon wafers.

Lithium niobate crystals have a number of unique properties. Lithium niobate is at the same time a ferroelectric, piezoelectric, pyroelectric, and has high nonlinearly optical and electro-optical coefficients and photorefractive sensitivity. These properties enable these crystals to be used widely in optical and acoustic devices, and photorefractive sensitivity, enhanced by doping with transitional metals, offers new possibilities of using lithium niobate as a recording holographic medium. These properties are determined by the crystal structure of lithium niobate sensitive to physical and chemical effects. Special attention is given in the book to physico-chemical features of technology, disruption of stoichiometry in these crystals and detection of this disruption by physical methods. At the same time, the ideas and methods proposed in the book can be used in technology of other crystals.