Growth and characterization of single crystals of KDP family

This contribution reports on the growth and characterization of single crystals of the KDP family, using the example of DKDP for display devices applications. The emphasis is put on all aspects common to most of the crystals regarding the solution preparation, the growth kinetics and the nature and origin of crystallographic imperfections. In particular, the dramatic role of the seeding step and the hydrodynamics are stressed. Finally, it is shown that the combination of X-ray topography, electroding decoration and autoradiography techniques is a powerful tool for the assessment of optimized growth conditions.