On the single domain nature of stoichiometric LiNbO3 grown from melts containing K2O

Abstract
Stoichiometric crystals of LiNbO3 were grown by the Czochralski technique from a congruent melt with 6 wt% of K2O flux dopant. The crystals were always single domain irrespective of the seed history. Analysis of the domain structure at the seed-crystal boundary reveals a domain inversion in certain cases. During crystal growth, self-poling of initially unpoled congruent LiNbO3 seeds was observed. It is thought that the monodomain nature of the crystals is attributed to the reduction of native defects due to their stoichiometric Li-Nb composition.