title: Lithium diffusion in congruent LiNbO3 single crystals at low temperatures probed by neutron reflectometry.
abstract: The self-diffusion of lithium in congruent LiNbO3 single crystals was investigated at low temperatures between 379 and 523 K by neutron reflectometry. From measurements on (6)LiNbO3 (amorphous film)/(nat)LiNbO3 (single crystal) samples, Li self-diffusivities were determined in single crystals down to extremely low values of 1 × 10(-25) m(2) s(-1) on small length scales of 1-10 nm. The measured diffusivities are in excellent agreement with (extrapolated) literature data obtained by experiments based on Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry and Impedance Spectroscopy. The tracer diffusivities can be described by a single Arrhenius line over ten orders of magnitude with an activation enthalpy of 1.33 eV, which corresponds to the migration energy of a single Li vacancy. A deviation from the Arrhenius behaviour at low temperatures, e.g., due to defect cluster formation is not observed.
authors.affiliation: Clausthal University of Technology, Institute of Metallurgy, Microkinetics Group, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany. harald.schmidt@tu-clausthal.de.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hüger
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rahn
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stahn
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Geue
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Heitjans
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schmidt