Optical properties of MgO doped near-stoichiometric LiTaO3 single crystals

Comparative study of the optical properties of undoped and 1–3 mol% MgO doped near-stoichiometric LiTaO3 (SLT) crystals were undertaken. It was observed that the red shift in the absorption edge occurred with the increasing MgO doping concentration. The infrared absorption spectrum of the OH-stretch-mode in SLT was measured for crystals of undoped and 1–3 mol% MgO doped compositions. The coercive field for the crystals was measured to be 0.913, 0.610 and 0.735 kV/mm for 1–3 mol% MgO doped SLT, respectively. Photorefractive damage of SLT single crystals with 1–3 mol% MgO doping levels was measured to be 136.29, 180.25 and 222.54 MW/cm2.

► MgO-doped SLT crystals were grown by the Czochralski (Cz) method.
► The red shift in absorption edge and OH-stretch-mode occurred in MgO-doped SLT crystals.
► Mg2+ ions doped decrease the coercive field and increase the photorefractive damage.