Fabrication of Optically Transparent and Electrooptic Strontium Barium Niobate Ceramics

Abstract

The tetragonal tungsten bronze (TTB) type of Sr x Ba 1− x m Nb 2 O 6 (SBN) (0.5 ≤ x ≤ 0.75) was synthesized by a mixed‐oxide route. Using the two‐step densification process of pressureless sintering followed by oxygen HIPing, transparent ceramics were successfully fabricated. Microstructural, dielectric, optical, and electrooptic properties were investigated. All single‐phase TTB‐type SBN showed the characteristics of relaxor ferroelectrics. The extinction coefficients of the sample with the highest transparency were calculated from transmission spectra to be 30.4, 5.8, and 2.4 cm −1 at 600, 1450, and 2000 nm, respectively. The linear electrooptic coefficients for SBN55, r 33 and r 13 , were 46 × 10 −12 and 21 × 10 −12 m/V at 633 nm, respectively.