Lithium tantalate, LiTaO3, is the most important tantalate. The crystal structure is related to that of perovskite. LiTaO3 exhibits high spontaneous polarization and a high Curie temperature. For several applications in electronic devices such as surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters, second harmonic generators (SHG), and wave guides, crystals are grown by the conventional Czochralski technique from melts made of Li2CO3 and Ta2O5.
