Effects of meniscus on the directional growth of potassium niobate single crystals

Abstract

The study of meniscus effects on the directional growth of single crystals of potassium niobate (KNbO3) with a [110]pc oriented seed by the top-seeded-solution-growth technique has been described. The directional growth of KNbO3 single crystals has been illustrated for different crystallographic orientations of the crystal. Experimental results show that the shape of the solution flux meniscus, which is determined by a number of growth parameters, has a significant effect on growth rates on different {100}pc, {010}pc and (001)pc type surfaces. Findings based on this work enable one to select a dominant growth direction and hence to engineer the geometrical shaping of resultant KNbO3 single crystals through careful control of growth parameters. Maximum crystal dimensions for the grown KNbO3 along [100]pc and [001]pc achieved in this work are 34.0 and 31.2 mm, respectively.