Crescimento de cristais de rubi e safira pelo método do fluxo

This work reports the growth of corundum crystals by the flux method. The main objective was the evaluation of versatility, effectiveness and real possibilities of the flux method to the synthesis and doping of monocrystals with impurities of particular interest. In this work the chosen impurities were i) Cr and ii) Fe and Ti, aiming the synthesis of rubies and sapphires, respectively. The crystals were grown by heating a mixture of Al2O3:Cr or Al2O3:Fe:Ti and flux (MoO3). The maximum crystal size obtained was 1.0 mm, all transparent, presenting well developed faces, bipiramidal hexagonal shape, and showing a typical red (ruby) and/or light blue (sapphire) color. EDX and XPD experiments were performed in order to characterize some of the synthesized crystals. All crystallized specimens presented the α-alumina atomic structure.