Lithium tantalate

{{chembox

| Watchedfields = changed

| verifiedrevid = 450707339

| Name = Lithium tantalate

| ImageFile = LiTaO3 ball Stick.png

| ImageSize =

| ImageFile1 = File:LiNbO3.png

| ImageSize1 =

| ImageCaption1 = __ Li⁺ __ Ta⁵⁺ __ O²⁻

| IUPACName = Lithium tantalate

| OtherNames = Lithium metatantalate

|Section1={{Chembox Identifiers

| CASNo_Ref = {{cascite|correct|CAS}}

| CASNo = 12031-66-2

| ChemSpiderID = 11555951

| EC_number = 234-757-5

| PubChem = 159405

| RTECS = WW55470000

| StdInChI=1S/Li.3O.Ta/q+1;3*-2;+5

| StdInChIKey = JNQQEOHHHGGZCY-UHFFFAOYSA-N

| SMILES = [Li+].[O-2].[O-2].[O-2].[Ta+5]

}}

|Section2={{Chembox Properties

| Li=1|Ta=1|O=3

| Appearance =

| Density = 7.46 g/cm³, solid

| Solubility = Insoluble in water

| MeltingPtC = 1650

| MeltingPt_notes =

| BoilingPt =

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|Section3={{Chembox Structure

| Coordination =

| CrystalStruct = Space group R3c

| LattConst_a = 515.43 pm

| LattConst_c = 1378.35 pm{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/0022-3697(67)90142-4 |title=Ferroelectric lithium tantalate—1. Single crystal X-ray diffraction study at 24°C |journal=Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids |volume=28 |issue=9 |pages=1685 |year=1967 |last1=Abrahams |first1=S.C |last2=Bernstein |first2=J.L |bibcode=1967JPCS...28.1685A }}

}}

|Section7={{Chembox Hazards

| ExternalSDS = {{cite web |title=Lithium Tantalate |url=https://discovery.sdsmanager.com/safety-data-sheet/english/sigma-aldrich-inc-lithium-tantalate-en/ |publisher=SDS Manager}}

| MainHazards = Acute Toxicity: Oral, Inhalation, Dermal

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|Section8={{Chembox Related

| OtherAnions = LiNbO₃

| OtherCations =

| OtherFunction_label = salts

| OtherFunction =

}}

Lithium tantalate is the inorganic compound with the formula Li Ta O₃. It is a white, diamagnetic, water-insoluble solid. The compound has the perovskite structure. It has optical, piezoelectric, and pyroelectric properties. Considerable information is available from commercial sources about this material.{{cite book |doi=10.1002/14356007.a26_071 |chapter=Tantalum and Tantalum Compounds |title=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry |date=2000 |last1=Andersson |first1=Klaus |last2=Reichert |first2=Karlheinz |last3=Wolf |first3=Rüdiger |isbn=3-527-30673-0 }}

Synthesis and processing

Lithium tantalate is produced by treating tantalum(V) oxide with lithium oxide. The use of excess alkali gives water-soluble polyoxotantalates. Single crystals of Lithium tantalate are pulled from the melt using the Czochralski method.

Applications

Lithium tantalate is used for nonlinear optics, passive infrared sensors such as motion detectors, terahertz generation and detection, surface acoustic wave applications, cell phones.

Lithium tantalate is a standard detector element in infrared spectrophotometers.{{cite web |url=https://www.s4science.at/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/LiTaO3-Detector_Technical-Note.pdf|title=Application note: Infrared Spectroscopy}}

Research

The phenomenon of pyroelectric fusion has been demonstrated using a lithium tantalate crystal producing a large enough charge to generate and accelerate a beam of deuterium nuclei into a deuterated target resulting in the production of a small flux of helium-3 and neutrons through nuclear fusion without extreme heat or pressure.

{{cite journal

|author1=B. Naranjo, J.K. Gimzewski |author2=S. Putterman

|name-list-style=amp| year = 2005

| title = Observation of nuclear fusion driven by a pyroelectric crystal

| journal = Nature

| volume = 434 | issue = 7037 | pages=1115–1117

| doi = 10.1038/nature03575

| pmid = 15858570

|bibcode=2005Natur.434.1115N

|s2cid=4407334

}}

A difference between positively and negatively charged parts of pyroelectric LiTaO₃ crystals was observed when water freezes to them.