We report changes in the frequency of Raman modes in lithium niobate that are observed under the application of external applied electric fields and after domain inversion. Inspection of the Raman peaks reveals that after domain inversion, the internal field of the crystal is reduced. A comparison of the respective frequency shifts for the different Raman modes indicates that this change in the local internal field is not limited to the ferroelectric axis, but the fields orthogonal to the ferroelectric axis also change. The Raman modes also reveal that the strength of the internal field is dependent on the concentration of intrinsic defects present in the crystal.

• Received 19 August 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.134303