Growth technique of optical quality large-size single-crystal sapphire

AbstractIt has been shown that metal ion implantation can harden single crystal sapphire and introduce compressive stresses at the surface, which may lead to an increase in the fracture toughness of the material. This may significantly affect the usefulness of this material as a shatter-resistant optical window in missile applications. In this study, we have examined the extent to which sapphire can be implanted without severely degrading its optical quality by ion beam defect production. Optically-polished single-crystal c-axis sapphire was implanted with 150 keV Cr+, Ti+, and Si+ ions to doses of 0.3 – 3.0 × 1017 ions/cm2 at both room temperature and at 800 °C, to measure the optical effect of in situ annealing. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry showed evidence of implant species migration only in the case of Ti implanted at high temperatures; all other implant profiles were Gaussian. The optical transmittance of the sapphire was examined using visible spectrum transmission and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Si implantation resulted in a 10 % reduction in infrared transmittance at the highest ion dose, but this was reduced to 6 % when the implantation was done at high temperature. Both Cr and Ti implantation reduced the sapphire IR transmittance (by 16 % and 42 %, respectively) , but the effect of implantation temperature on transmittance was different. High temperature during implantation increased the transmittance of Cr-implanted samples, but further darkened Ti-implanted samples. Photon tunneling and atomic force microscopy showed that both Ti and Cr implantation roughened the surface of the material.

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Single Crystal Growth of High-Pressure Phases of Ice and Salt Hydrate Far Below the Original Melting Point by Mixing Alcohol: Crystal Structure Determination of Magnesium Chloride Heptahydrate

10.26434/chemrxiv.11345063.v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Keishiro Yamashita ◽

Kazuki Komatsu ◽

Hiroyuki Kagi

Keyword(s):

Crystal Structure ◽

High Pressure ◽

Crystal Growth ◽

Single Crystal ◽

Room Temperature ◽

Growth Technique ◽

Salt Hydrate ◽

X Ray

An crystal-growth technique for single crystal x-ray structure analysis of high-pressure forms of hydrogen-bonded crystals is proposed. We used alcohol mixture (methanol: ethanol = 4:1 in volumetric ratio), which is a widely used pressure transmitting medium, inhibiting the nucleation and growth of unwanted crystals. In this paper, two kinds of single crystals which have not been obtained using a conventional experimental technique were obtained using this technique: ice VI at 1.99 GPa and MgCl<sub>2</sub>·7H<sub>2</sub>O at 2.50 GPa at room temperature. Here we first report the crystal structure of MgCl2·7H2O. This technique simultaneously meets the requirement of hydrostaticity for high-pressure experiments and has feasibility for further in-situ measurements.

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Optimized Growth and Laser Application of Yb:LuAG Single-Crystal Fibers by Micro-Pulling-Down Technique

Crystals ◽

10.3390/cryst11020078 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 78

Author(s):

Anye Wang ◽

Jian Zhang ◽

Shuai Ye ◽

Xiaofei Ma ◽

Baiyi Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Single Crystal ◽

High Power ◽

Slope Efficiency ◽

Continuous Wave ◽

Beam Quality ◽

Axial Direction ◽

Optical Quality ◽

Central Wavelength ◽

High Power Lasers ◽

Crystal Fibers

Single-crystal fibers (SCFs) have a great application potential in high-power lasers due to their excellent performance. In this work, high-quality and crack-free Yb3+:Lu3Al5O12 (Yb:LuAG) SCFs were successfully fabricated by the micro-pulling-down (μ-PD) technology. Based on the laser micrometer and the X-ray Laue diffraction results, these Yb:LuAG SCFs have a less than 5% diameter fluctuation and good crystallinity along the axial direction. More importantly, the distribution of Yb ions is proved to be uniform by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and the scanning electron microscope (SEM). In the laser experiment, the continuous-wave (CW) output power using a 1 mm diameter Yb:LuAG single-crystal fiber is determined to be 1.96 W, at the central wavelength of 1047 nm, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 13.55%. Meanwhile, by applying a 3 mm diameter Yb:LuAG SCF, we obtain a 4.7 W CW laser output at 1049 nm with the slope efficiency of 22.17%. The beam quality factor M2 is less than 1.1 in both conditions, indicating a good optical quality of the grown fiber. Our results show that the Yb:LuAG SCF is a potential solid-state laser gain medium for 1 μm high-power lasers.

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Growth of single crystals in the (Na1/2Bi1/2)TiO3–(Sr1–xCax)TiO3 system by solid state crystal growth

Journal of Advanced Ceramics ◽

10.1007/s40145-021-0481-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Phan Gia Le ◽

Huyen Tran Tran ◽

Jong-Sook Lee ◽

John G. Fisher ◽

Hwang-Pill Kim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Crystal Growth ◽

Solid State ◽

Single Crystal ◽

Single Crystals ◽

Piezoelectric Properties ◽

Single Crystal Growth ◽

Crystal Growth Rate ◽

Large Strains ◽

Growth Technique ◽

The Matrix

AbstractCeramics based on (Na1/2B1/2)TiO3 are promising candidates for actuator applications because of large strains generated by an electric field-induced phase transition. For example, the (1−x)(Na1/2Bi1/2)TiO3-xSrTiO3 system exhibits a morphotropic phase boundary at x = 0.2–0.3, leading to high values of inverse piezoelectric constant d*33, which can be further improved by the use of single crystals. In our previous work, single crystals of (Na1/2B1/2)TiO3-SrTiO3 and (Na1/2B1/2)TiO3-CaTiO3 were grown by the solid state crystal growth technique. Growth in the (Na1/2B1/2)TiO3-SrTiO3 system was sluggish whereas the (Na1/2B1/2)TiO3-CaTiO3 single crystals grew well. In the present work, 0.8(Na1/2Bi1/2)TiO3-0.2(Sr1−xCax)TiO3 single crystals (with x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) were produced by the solid state crystal growth technique in an attempt to improve crystal growth rate. The dependence of mean matrix grain size, single crystal growth distance, and electrical properties on the Ca concentration was investigated in detail. These investigations indicated that at x = 0.3 the matrix grain growth was suppressed and the driving force for single crystal growth was enhanced. Replacing Sr with Ca increased the shoulder temperature Ts and temperature of maximum relative permittivity Tmax, causing a decrease in inverse piezoelectric properties and a change from normal to incipient ferroelectric behavior.

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Single-crystal rare-earth doped YAG fiber lasers grown by the laser-heated pedestal growth technique

10.1117/12.2041769 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Craig D. Nie ◽

James A. Harrington ◽

Yuan Li ◽

Eric G. Johnson ◽

Elizabeth F. Cloos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rare Earth ◽

Single Crystal ◽

Fiber Lasers ◽

Growth Technique ◽

Laser Heated ◽

Rare Earth Doped

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A Novel Technique for Growth of Lithium-free ZnO Single Crystals

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/opl.2013.587 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 1538 ◽

pp. 405-410

Author(s):

Shaoping Wang ◽

Aneta Kopec ◽

Andrew G. Timmerman

Keyword(s):

Single Crystal ◽

The Novel ◽

Uv Laser ◽

Uv Detectors ◽

Growth Technique ◽

Light Emitting ◽

Alkaline Metals ◽

Novel Technique ◽

Solar Blind ◽

Zno Single Crystal

ABSTRACTA ZnO single crystal is a native substrate for epitaxial growth of high-quality thin films of ZnO-based Group II-oxides (e.g. ZnO, ZnMgO, ZnCdO) for variety of devices, such as UV and visible-light emitting diodes (LEDs), UV laser diodes and solar-blind UV detectors. Currently, commercially available ZnO single crystal wafers are produced using a hydrothermal technique. The main drawback of hydrothermal growth technique is that the ZnO crystals contain large amounts of alkaline metals, such as Li and K. These alkaline metals are electrically active and hence can be detrimental to device performances. In this paper, results from a recently developed novel growth technique for ZnO single crystal boules are presented. Lithium-free ZnO single crystal boules of up to 1 inch in diameter was demonstrated using the novel technique. Results from crystal growth and materials characterization will be discussed.

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