Study of structural differences between stoichiometric and congruent lithium niobate

The structural differences between stoichiometric and congruent (lithium deficient) lithium niobate single crystals were studied by RBS- and NRA-channeling as well as perturbed angular correlation (PAC) measurements. The ¹¹¹Cd-PAC investigations point out that a second Li site can be detected in congruent material, while only one is present in stoichiometric. Channeling studies of different axes and the comparison of the results with computer simulations corroborated former indications that this additional lattice site can be attributed to the formation of ilmenite type stacking faults. A comparative study of the energy dependence of the dechanneling showed that a remarkable disorder is also present in the Nb sublattice of the congruent crystals and that these defects have a point-like character.