This impressive thesis offers a comprehensive scientific study of the alkaline earth niobates and describes their nonlinear optical properties for the first time. It explores the crystal structure, electrical properties, optical absorption properties, hot carrier dynamics, nonlinear optical property and strain-induced metal to insulator transition of alkaline earth niobates using advanced experimental techniques. These alkaline earth niobates can have a strong plasmon resonance in the visible range due to their large carrier density, and this unique property gives rise to the emergent phenomenon of photocatalysis and nonlinear optical properties. This series of intrinsic plasmonic materials based on niobates, can be used as a photocatalyst to split water under sunlight, a novel saturable absorber in the high-power ultrashort pulsed laser system, and as a sensor in microelectromechanical systems.

Introduction.- Sample Preparation and Characterization Techniques.- The Nature of Electron Transport and Visiblelight Absorption in Strontium Niobate - A Plasmonic Water Splitter.- Comparison of Water Splitting Efficiencies of Mnbo3- d (M = Ca, Sr, Ba).- New Tunable and Low-Loss Correlated Plasmons in Mott-like Insulating Oxides.- The Nonlinear Optical Properties of Mnbo3(M=Ca, Sr, Ba) Thin Films.- Strain-Induced Metal to Insulator Transition in Thin Film of Srnbo3.- Summary and Future Work.