MgO-doped LiNbO3 (MgLN) single crystals of 6.5 mol% have been grown by the Czochralski technique. The MgO-doped crystal shows a shift in the absorption edge towards shorter wavelengths and a three orders of magnitude increase in the photorefractive damage resistance compared to the congruent LiNbO3 (CLN) crystal. This material has been periodically poled at room temperature by applying electric field, and a coercive field of about 5 kV/mm has been determined, which is about 1/4 of that for CLN. Periodic poling of 1 mm thick 6.5 mol% MgLN substrates has been successfully performed by means of an electric field poling process at room temperature. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.