Study of periodically poled Czochralski-grown Nd:Mg:LiNbO3 by chemical etching and X-ray microanalysis

Nd:Mg:LiNbO3 bulk single crystals with periodically poled ferroelectric domain structure were grown by Czochralski technique along [2 (1 1) over bar 0] (X-axis) and along the normal to the face (0 1 (1) over bar 2). The domain structure with period 4-30 mu m was studied by selective chemical etching and metallographic microscope. The distribution of the impurities along the growth directions was measured by wave dispersive X-ray (WDX) microanalysis. The domain structure of crystals and the distribution of impurities are strongly dependent on the seed orientation.