Author: Birnie, Dunbar P. III
Source: NIST Special Publication 804, Chemistry of Electronic Ceramic Materials (1991)  269-274

Abstract: Impurity incorporation mechanisms in lithium niobate are discussed. It is concluded that the simplistic electrical charge misfit considerations may in fact control site occupancy for impurities. Divalent Fe, Mg, and Mn are found to sit on lithium sites. Trivalent Fe sits on lithium sites and hexavalent W sits on niobium sites. The general observation of 3-fold axial defects in EPR is attributed to the internal electric field aligning point defect clusters on cooling.