IMF2017

Stoichiometric composition powders and alkoxide of lithium niobate doped with different concentrations of Ho³⁺ ions were prepared by solid and wet reactions respectively. Thin films of LiNbO₃:Ho³⁺ were grown by Sol-Gel method on a sapphire substrate of (001) orientation. The obtained powders and fired alkoxides were investigated by X-ray diffraction analyses and corresponding lattice parameters were obtained. X-ray reciprocal space mapping, which has been recently established as a powerful method for strain and structural characterization of epilayers and heterostructures, was realized on grown thin films of LiNbO₃ doped with different concentration of Ho³⁺ (0.1 mol% and 1.0 mol%) ions and having different thickness (130 nm and 300 nm). By comparing the maps obtained from different independent Bragg reflections, the deformation matrix was solved. The lattice parameters of thin films were obtained and compared with those of corresponding powders and bulk crystals.