  We report on the characterization of sol-gel derived lithium niobate via
trivalent chromium probe ions, a study that is motivated by recent reports on
the synthesis of high quality sol-gel lithium niobate (LiNbO$_3$). In order to
assess the quality of sol-gel derived LiNbO$_3$, we incorporate Cr$^{3+}$
during the hydrolysis stage of the sol-gel process. A comparison of the
Cr$^{3+}$ emission and photo-excitation data on both sol-gel and melt-grown
LiNbO$_3$ shows that the sol-gel derived material is highly stoichiometric.
