Dislocation structures and electrical conduction properties of low angle tilt grain boundaries in LiNbO₃

Dislocations in crystalline materials constitute unique, atomic-scale, one-dimensional structure and have a potential to induce peculiar physical properties that are not found in the bulk. In this study, we fabricated LiNbO₃ bicrystals with low angle tilt grain boundaries and investigated the relationship between the atomic structure of the boundary dislocations and their electrical conduction properties. Observations by using transmission electron microscopy revealed that dislocation structures at the (0001) low angle tilt grain boundaries depend on the tilt angle of the boundaries. Specifically, the characteristic dislocation structures with a large Burgers vector were formed in the boundary with the tilt angle of 2°. It is noteworthy that only the grain boundary of 2° exhibits distinct electrical conductivity after reduction treatment, although LiNbO₃ is originally insulating. This unique electrical conductivity is suggested to be due to the characteristic dislocation structures with a large Burgers vector.