Optical diffraction of second-harmonic signals in the LiBO 2 - Nb 2O 5 glasses induced by self-organized LiNbO 3 crystallites

Abstract

The nanocrystallites (≈3 nm) of LiNb O3, evolved in the (100-x) LiB O2 -x Nb2 O5 (5≤x≤20, in molar ratio) glass system exhibited intense second-harmonic signals in transmission mode when exposed to infrared (IR) light at λ=1064 nm. The second-harmonic waves were found to undergo optical diffraction which was attributed to the presence of self-organized submicrometer-sized LiNb O3 crystallites that were grown within the glass matrix along the parallel damage fringes created by the IR laser radiation. Micro-Raman studies carried out on the laser-irradiated samples confirmed the self-organized crystallites to be LiNb O3. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.