Pulsed laser deposition of ferroelectric potassium tantalate-niobate optical waveguiding thin films

We present the epitaxial growth of ferroelectric potassium tantalate-niobate (KTN) thin films by pulsed laser deposition. As a result of the optimization of the deposition and the surface finishing processes, a c-axis oriented KTa0.5Nb0.5O3 thin film with homogeneous polarization phase grown on KTaO3 and an efficient KTa0.5Nb0.5O3 waveguiding thin film grown on MgO are demonstrated. The highly improved crystalline and optical quality of KTN layers grown in this work reveal the great potential of such films for integrated nonlinear optics.