| Abstract: | Nd3+‐doped Y3Al5O12 single crystals have been grown by the horizontal directional solidification (HDS) method in different thermal zone. The Grashof (Gr), Prandtl (Pr), Marangoni (Ma) and Rayleigh (Ra) numbers of melt in HDS system have been discussed for our experimental system to understand the mechanism of melt flow patterns and concentration gradient of dopant. The concentration gradient of Nd3+ ions was explained with melt flow processes during crystal growth in different thermal zone, and results indicated that high growth temperature will be helpful for uniformity of dopant in HDS‐grown single crystal. The main microscopic growth defects such as bubbles and irregular inclusions in HDS‐grown Nd:YAG crystals were observed, and the causes were discussed as well. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) |
