Optical spectroscopy of trivalent chromium in sol-gel lithium niobate

We report on the characterization of sol-gel derived lithium niobate via trivalent chromium probe ions, a study that is motivated by recent reports on the synthesis of high quality sol-gel lithium niobate (LiNbO3). In order to assess the quality of sol-gel derived LiNbO3, we incorporate Cr3+ during the hydrolysis stage of the sol-gel process. A comparison of the Cr3+ emission and photoexcitation data on both sol-gel and melt-grown LiNbO3 shows that the sol-gel derived material is highly stoichiometric. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.