Preparation of Stoichiometric Crystalline Lithium Niobate Fibers by Sol‐Gel Processing with Metal Alkoxides

Homogeneous and stoichiometric crystalline LiNbO 3 fibers were successfully prepared above 450°C by sol‐gel processing with metal alkoxides. Controlling the concentration of alkoxide solution and the amount of water used for partial hydrolysis made it possible to draw gel fibers having uniform diameters (10 to 100 μm) from the metal alkoxide solution. The gel fibers withdrawn crystallized directly to single‐phase LiNbO 3 fibers by heating from 450° to 600°C. The density of the crystalline LiNbO 3 fibers was higher than 4.22 g/cm 3 , and the dielectric constant at room temperature was about 10 at 10 MHz.