The present interest in small compact diode pumped lasers has supported research on new solid-state laser systems based on non-linear crystals. Rare-earth doped LiNbO3 single crystal fibers were grown by micro-pulling down (mu-PD) method. The grown crystals were free of cracks and homogeneous distributions of the rare-earth dopants concentration were observed by electron probe micro analysis (EPMA). The absorption bands and changes of photoluminescence properties due to the addition of the rare-earth dopants were investigated. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.