Strontium Barium Nitrate (SBN)

Nano Domain Lattice Pattern
Nano Domain Lattice Pattern		 SBN bulk crystal grown by the DCCZ method
SBN bulk crystal grown by the DCCZ method

What is SBN?

  • Tetragonal tungsten bronze structure
  • Chemical formula: (SrxBa1-xO)1-y(Nb2O5 ) where 0.75>x>0.25, 0.505>y>0.497
  • Ferroelectric material with Tc =50~100C
  • Hard to grow material by conventional techniques - here the DCCZ method is used

SBN is an attractive material for many applications - IR detectors, EO modulators and holographic storage - thanks to it having the largest reported EO coefficient. Its FOM for photorefractive applications is much larger than lithium niobate, opening the way to much smaller devices. The pyroelectric coefficients of the bulk material are also much higher than other well known ferroelectric materials.