Electrochromic effect in domain-inversion process in LiNbO3： Ru： Fe crystals

A reversible electrochromic effect accompanying domain-inversion during the electrical poling process in LiNbO3： Ru： Fe crystals at room temperature has been observed. In electrode area, both electrochromism and domain-inversion occur alternately, and electrochromism is also reversible during back-switch poling, which is experimentally verified and whose mechanism is briefly explained using a microstrncture ferroelectric model. In addition, because of the enhancing elcctrochromic effect, different from the undoped LiNbO3 crystals, the coercive filed （21.0 kV/mm or so） measured in LiNbO3： Ru： Fe is lower than its breakdown field, thus providing a possible new technique for realizing the domain-inversion by constant electric field rather than a pulsed one.