Single crystal thin films of Yb, Zn:LiNbO3 have been grown on LiNbO3 substrates using liquid phase epitaxy with K2O flux. The segregation coefficients decrease abruptly at high doping concentrations, indicating a doping threshold. The surface roughness of the thin film increased with doping concentration. The propagation loss of the as-grown lithium niobate thin film sample was 0.154 +/- 0.002 dB/mm at a wavelength of 1 mu m measured by the cutback method. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.