Energy of the indirect and direct optical bandgap of nearstoichiometric lithium niobate (nSLN) crystals is evaluated by optical absorption measurement. The value of the indirect bandgap (3.95 eV) is consistent with the earlier reports. However, the direct bandgap energy of 4.12 eV is higher than the previously reported experimental value (3.68 eV). The direct bandgap energy obtained here is closer to the recent theoretical value estimated by Thierfelder et al. [Phys. Status Solidi C 7, 362 (2010)] in comparison to the previously predicted value by Ching et al. [Phys. Rev. B 50, 1992(1994]. The phonons involved in the indirect allowed transitions have energies $85 meV (685 cm À1 ) and are identified as the E(TO9) and E(LO8) optical phonon modes from the Raman scattering measurement.

Electro-caloric effect in 0.45BaZr0.2Ti0.8O3-0.55Ba0.7Ca0.3TiO3 single crystal has been investigated and electro-caloric coefficient of ∼0.38 K mm/kV has been obtained near the tetragonal-to-cubic phase transition. The value obtained is significantly higher than that for the lead-free ferroelectric materials reported so far.

We present temperature-dependent refractive index along crystallographic b[010] and a direction perpendicular to (100)-plane for monoclinic phase (β) Ga(2)O(3) single crystal grown by the optical floating zone technique. The experimental results are consistent with the theoretical result of Litimein et al.1. Also, the Sellmeier equation for wavelengths in the range of 0.4-1.55 μm is formulated at different temperatures in the range of 30-175 °C. The thermal coefficient of refractive index in the above specified range is ~10(-5)/°C.

We report the manifestation of sunlight driven photocatalytic activity in the nanostructured Gd substituted bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) multiferroic photocatalyst.