Epitaxial LiNbO3 Thin Films Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition for Optical Waveguides

We have grown good-quality epitaxial LiNbO3 thin films on (0001) sapphire substrates using a pulsed laser deposition technique. The growth conditions permitted us to deposit c-axis oriented films avoiding the problem of the LiNb3O8 Li-deficient phase. The chemical composition of thin films was investigated by secondary ion mass spectrometry and resulted to coincide with the target composition. Guided propagation was demonstrated at 632 and 488 nm with thin films (~1200 Å). © 2001 American Institute of Physics.