Niobium compounds in acoustics and electrooptics

Niobium compounds, mainly mixed oxides, have found wide application in ultrasonics, acoustooptics, electrooptics, and nonlinear optics. Ultrasonic applications include transducers, wideband microwave delay lines, filters, and a variety of surface acoustic wave (SAW) signal processing devices, largely based on single crystal lithium niobate. The acoustooptic (AO) applications of niobates include beam scanners and deflectors, modulators, Q-switches for lasers, tuneable optical filters, and a number of more exotic signal processing devices. Electrooptic (EO) applications of niobates include optical polarization and phase modulators for communications, Q-switches for lasers, holographic storage, and integrated optical circuits. Niobates are used in nonlinear optics for optical frequency doubling, optical mixing, and parametric oscillation. For virtually all of these applications, the niobium compounds are prepared as large, high quality single crystals, and are then appropriately processed by orienting, cutting, and polishing. (AU)