Optical anisotropy associated with growth striation of yttrium garnet,Y3 (Al,Fe)5O12

The optical anisotropy associated with growth striae of yttrium garnet, Y₃(Al, Fe)₅O₁₂, was studied in terms of optical microscopy and EPMA analysis. It turned out that the lattice mismatch due to the compositional change at the growth striae gives rise to stressbirefringence. The result can be applied to compositional characterization of garnet single crystal by determining the vibration directions of polarized rays under a microscope.