Non-centrosymmetric Ba3Ti3O6(BO3)2

The compound previously reported as Ba2Ti2B2O9 has been reformulated as Ba3Ti3B2O12, or Ba3Ti3O6(BO3)2, a new barium titanium oxoborate. Small single crystals have been recovered from a melt with a composition of BaTiO3:BaTiB2O6 (molar ratio) cooled between 1100°C and 850°C. The crystal structure has been determined by X-ray diffraction: hexagonal system, non-centrosymmetric P6̄2m space group, a=8.7377(11)Å, c=3.9147(8)Å, Z=1, wR(F2)=0.039 for 504 unique reflections. Ba3Ti3O6(BO3)2 is isostructural with K3Ta3O6(BO3)2. Preliminary measurements of nonlinear optical properties on microcrystalline samples show that the second harmonic generation efficiency of Ba3Ti3O6(BO3)2 is equal to 95% of that of LiNbO3.