The influence of the volume concentration of hydrogen on the fine structure of the IR absorption spectra and conductivity features in congruent LiTaO3 crystals

A new method for changing the volume concentration of hydrogen in congruent LiTaO3 (lithium tantalate, LT) crystals has been studied. It has been established that pre-treatment of the sample in adipic acid significantly increases the volumetric concentration of hydrogen in the sample during subsequent annealing in a humid atmosphere at a relatively low annealing temperature. First of all, this preserves the LT single crystal in a single-domain state. In contrast to known methods for increasing the volumetric concentration of hydrogen, the proposed method affects the absorption coefficient of the sample in the optical range less than for a congruent LiNbO3 crystal. It has been shown that the type of IR absorption spectrum of OH− groups and the defect structure of the LT crystal significantly depend on the volume concentration of hydrogen in the sample. The study also analyzed the reasons for this effect. The temperature dependences of the electrical conductivity of LT samples with different hydrogen concentrations have been studied. It has been shown that the type of electronic conductivity of LT samples changes when the concentration of OH groups in the crystal increases significantly.