Electrical and optical characterization of ferroelectric thin films deposited by photo-induced metallo-organic decomposition

Abstract

A novel photo-induced metallo-organic decomposition (PIMOD) process has been developed for producing high-quality lithium niobate thin films on various substrates. Crack- and interdiffusion-free films have been grown by the PIMOD process. Values of dielectric constant and loss tangent were measured to be approximately 31 and 0.01, respectively, from 1 kHz to 0.1 MHz. The C-V hysteresis curves show ferroelectric switching. By prism coupling, the refractive indices were determined to be n_o = 2.271 and n_e = 2.206 and the propagation loss was about 2.2 dB/cm. The electro-optic coefficient r ₃₃ was measured, utilizing a transmission phase modulation technique, to be 10.7 × 10⁻¹² m/V. The polarization reversal in the films was observed as shown in the photocurrent experiments.