A detailed study was made of Mg diffusion into niobate crystals in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the diffusion process as a function of film thickness, temperature and diffusion time. Secondary ion mass spectrometry techniques were used to determine Mg concentration depth profiles. The results showed that the most important factor was the temperature. A noticeable increase in the diffusion coefficient was observed with increasing temperature. The diffusion time had a small effect upon the diffusion coefficient but, if the former was less than a certain value, the deposited MgO film did not diffuse completely. On the other hand, too long a diffusion time could impinge on the annealing regime.

A Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry Study of Magnesium Diffusion in Lithium Niobate. F.Caccavale, P.Chakraborty, I.Mansour, G.Gianello, M.Mazzoleni, M.Elena: Journal of Applied Physics, 1994, 76[11], 7552-8