Luminescence of ferroelectric crystals: LiNbO3 and KNbO3

The thermostimulated luminescence and time-resolved luminescence of LiNbO3 (congruent, stoichiometric, Eu-, Mn-, or Cr-doped) and KNbO3 crystals (undoped, Fe-, or Mn- doped) excited by X-ray, pulsed nitrogen laser or pulsed electron beam were studied. The luminescence decay times of niobium-oxygen groups (regular or perturbed by defect or impurity) were obtained. It is shown that the energy transfer from bulk to the activator in LiNbO3 is not effective during the electron-hole recombination process.