Investigation of near-surface layer dislocation density of lithium niobate single crystal wafers using chemical etching

Using chemical etching it was shown that the density of dislocation in lithium niobate (LN) single crystal wafers is higher near the surface in depth about 20 um than in the depth of crystal. It caused to change of diffusion coefficient during the waveguide formation with proton exchange (PE) method and can increase DC-drift of intensity optical modulators based on PE-waveguides.

Study of Lapping and Polishing Performance on Lithium Niobate Single Crystals

Recently, the range of crystal materials used in industrial microelectronics has significantly increased. Lithium niobate single crystals are most often used in integrated optics, due to the high values of optical and electro-optical coefficients. An integral-optical circuit based on a lithium niobate single crystal is a key element in the production of local high-precision fiber-optic gyroscopic devices used in civil and military aviation and marine technologies. In the process of production of an integral-optical circuit, the most labor-intensive operations are mechanical processing, such as lapping and polishing. Technological problems that arise while performing these operations are due to the physical and mechanical properties of the material, as well as target surface finish. This work shows the possibility to achieve the required surface quality of lithium niobate single crystal plates by mechanization of lapping and polishing process in this article.