Manipulation of ferroelectric domain inversion and growth by optically induced 3D thermoelectric field in lithium niobate

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate the use of a femtosecond laser-induced thermoelectric field to manipulate remotely—not only at the focal spot—the inversion and growth of ferroelectric domain in lithium niobate. The process involves two steps: the first step is laser marking, in which a laser is used to mark the origin of the desired domain inversion. The second step is laser induction, in which a laser-induced thermoelectric field is used to invert the domain at the marker site and drive domain growth. The induced thermoelectric field is distributed in three dimensions, which can simultaneously manipulate the domain inversion and growth length of multiple marked sites within a diameter of ∼200  μm. The length of domain growth is synergistically controlled by the position and intensity of marking and induction, which can exceed 100  μm. This two-step poling method greatly improves the efficiency of all-optical poling and provides a different suite of tools for tailoring ferroelectric domains.