Growth and electrical properties of Mg:α-LiIO3 crystal

The 20-70 ppm Mg2+-doped alpha-lithium iodate (Mg:α-LiIO3) crystals were successfully grown by aqueous solution method. Transparent and well-crystallized hexagonal prisms were obtained by evaporation with controlled condensation of water solutions at a constant temperature of 60 °C. An intriguing finding is that the segregation coefficient of Mg2+ ions in the Mg(70 ppm):α-LiIO3 crystal is up to 2.5, suggesting the Mg2+ ions are easily incorporated into crystal lattice during the crystal growth process. The physical properties of electrical conductivity, dielectric and piezoelectric characterization are investigated on the Mg(70 ppm):α-LiIO3 crystals. In comparison with the pure α-LiIO3 crystal, the electrical conductivity and the dielectric characterization of the Mg(70 ppm):α-LiIO3 crystal are enhanced significantly, but its piezoelectric coefficient d33 decreases from 47 to 5.5 pC/N.