Ion-induced decomposition and mixing effects in LiNbO3

One of the most promising materials for the fabrication of integrated optical elements is LiNbO3 because of its large electro-optic and acoustic-optic coefficients and low optical loss. Waveguides, waveguide couplers, modulators, switches, and other more complex elements have been made by the in-diffusion of elements such as Ti, V, and Ni; the out-diffusion of Li; the use of ion exchange techniques; and the use of ion-induced damage to form buried layers of reduced index of refraction. However, our initial ion implantation studies revealed an ion-induced decomposition of the near surface of LiNbO3 which had not been observed in previous ion bombardment studies. In this paper, the authors characterize this effect and report initial results of ion beam mixing. They have utilized ion scattering/channeling, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), and optical microscopy to characterize the implanted and ion-mixed LiNbO3