Synthesis and waveguiding of single-crystalline LiNbO3 nanorods

Single-crystalline LiNbO3 nanorods with a trigonal rhombic crystal structure are synthesized through hydrothermal reaction with KOH, LiOH⋅H2O, and Nb2O5 as source materials. LiNbO3 nanorods were along the [110] crystallographic direction. KOH was found to be essential for the formation of one dimensional nanostructures. Meanwhile, waveguiding performance of the LiNbO3 nanorods was investigated. The as-synthesized nanorods exhibit broadband waveguiding capability in the experiments. High temperature annealing was also proved to be effective in enhancing the transmission of the nanowire waveguides by reducing the defects in the nanorods.