Composition for growth of homogeneous lithium niobate crystals

Lithium niobate optical material produced by:

• a) preparing a charge of lithium niobate having a mol percentage composition of Li.sub.2 O of about 48.38 and the remainder Nb.sub.2 O.sub.5, b) heating the charge to a temperature to provide a molten charge, and c) drawing a solidified homogeneous crystal from the molten charge having a composition essentially the same as that of the molten charge.

A process for making a lithium niobate crystal, comprising the steps of:

• preparing a molten charge having an Li.sub.2 O mole percentage composition of about 48.38, the remainder of the molten charge being Nb.sub.2 O.sub.5 ;
• and
• solidifying the molten charge in substantially congruent fashion by drawing a substantially homogeneous lithium niobate crystal from the molten charge, the crystal having substantially the same composition as that of the molten charge.