Change of melting temperature of non-doped and Mg-doped lithium niobate under an external electric field

The melting temperatures of lithium niobate (LN:LiNbO3) sintered powders of varying composition were measured under an electric field by an in-house-made DTA capable of applying an electric field. For non-doped LN (XLi=[Li]/[Li]+[Nb]=0.460–0.500), the congruent point moved away from the stoichiometric composition under an external electric field, while the congruent point may have moved toward the stoichiometric composition when 6.0 mol% Mg was added to LN. The temperature change for 0–10 mol% Mg-doped c-LN is also shown and the maximum temperature change (∼3 °C) was observed at 6.0 mol% doping.