Self-diffusion of lithium in amorphous lithium niobate layers

Abstract

We investigated lithium self-diffusion in amorphous lithium niobate layers between 298 and 423 K. For the experiments, amorphous 6LiNbO 3/ 7LiNbO 3 isotope hetero-structures were deposited by ion beam sputtering and analysed after diffusion annealing by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). This arrangement allows one to study pure isotope interdiffusion. The results show that the diffusivities obey the Arrhenius law with an activation enthalpy of 0.7 eV, which is considerably lower than the activation enthalpy found for LiNbO 3 single crystals in literature. Consequently, the Li diffusivities are higher by at least eight orders of magnitude in the amorphous samples in the temperature range studied. © by Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, München.