ABSTRACT
Acknowledgments .............................................................................................170 References .........................................................................................................170
Niobium oxides (niobates) are the topic of active research due to their burgeoning technological importance, particularly with regard to their successful use in a variety of applications in electronics and electro-optics, including dielectric ceramics,1 piezoelectric ceramics,2 and ferrites.3 Along with these applications, the use of LiNbO3 as a photorefractive material for nonvolatile volume holographic data storage systems4 and its use as a substrate for the preparation of gigahertz-range surface acoustic wave (SAW) transducers5 because of its high
