Transmission Electron Microscope Study of Secondary Phases in Cr3+:LiCaAlF6 Single Crystals

Cr³⁺-doped LiCaAlF₆ single crystals, considered as promising laser materials, contain secondary phases of different sizes and shapes which can be observed as "needles" or "dust" by light microscopy. TEM investigations presented in this paper give evidence for precipitation as the reason for the so-called microscopic "dust". The elongated shape of the so-called "needles" seems to be a consequence of the microscopic growth of facets which become visible by the decoration of the facet boundaries with microscopic precipitates.     

Crystal growth and defects in Ga3PO7 crystals

Crystals with a non‐centrosymmetric structure are of great interest owing to their properties such as ferroelectricity, piezoelectricity, dielectric behavior and optical properties. In this letter, Ga₃PO₇ crystals are grown by the top‐seeded solution growth (TSSG) method from a Li₂O‐3MoO₃ flux. It crystallizes in a non‐centrosymmetric trigonal crystal system with space group R3m within point group 3m. The growth defects are investigated by means of chemical etching method. The results reveal hot concentrated phosphoric acid to be a good etchant for Ga₃PO₇. The main defects are cracks, inclusions, dislocations and twin. In the meantime, the effective measures for reducing the defects are proposed. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Mathematical modeling of grown-in defects formation in Czochralski silicon

On the basis of a mathematical model proposed previously [S. Kobayashi, J. Crystal Growth 174 (1997) 163], oxygen precipitation in growing Czochralski (CZ) crystals is analyzed, and the calculated results are compared with experimental data of grown-in defects observed with laser scattering tomography (LST). The behavior of oxygen precipitates is qualitatively very similar to that of grown-in defects, but there are quantitative discrepancies between the calculation and the observation. The formation process of grown-in defects is discussed.     

Transmission electron microscopy study of defects in AlN crystals with rough and smooth surface grains

Defects present in (0 0 0 1) textured polycrystalline AlN grown by the sublimation–recombination method were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods. Grains in the polycrystalline boule had either a smooth or a rough surface. The rough surface grains had mainly edge dislocations, whereas the smooth surface grains had some sub-grain boundaries and were mostly free of dislocations. Dislocations at the grain boundaries were pinned and could not be annihilated.