Phi 140 mm sapphire crystal growth by temperature gradient techniques and its color centers

Sapphire crystals, 140 mm in diameter and 90 turn in height, have been grown by temperature gradient techniques (TGT). The growth direction of the boule was fixed by means of Lane X-ray diffraction. A prominent 204 nm absorption band in TGT-Al2O3. which does not appear in single crystals grown by Czochralski method has been studied. Analysis further substantiates the F-center model of this band. Two relatively weaker bands absorbing at 232 nm and 254 nm were ascribed to F+ centers. F-type centers concentration was determined using Smakula's equation. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Color centers and charge state change in Ce : YAG crystals grown by temperature gradient techniques

Color centers and impurity defects of Ce:YAG crystals grown in reduction atmosphere by temperature gradient techniques have been investigated by means of gamma irradiation and thermal treatments. Four absorption bands associated with color centers or impurity defects at 235, 255, 294 and 370 nm were observed in as-grown crystals. Changes in optical intensity of the 235 and 370 nm bands after gamma irradiation indicate that they are associated with F+-type color center. Charge state change processes of Fe3+ impurity and Ce3+ ions take place in the irradiation process. The variations of Ce3+ ions concentration clearly indicate that Ce4+ ions exist in Ce:YAG crystals and gamma irradiations could increase the concentration of Ce3+ ions. Annealing treatments and the changes in optical density suggest that a heterovalent impurity ion associated with the 294 nm band seems to be present in the crystals. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Color centers in Yb : YAG crystals grown by temperature-gradient techniques

Yb: YAG (Yb: Y3Al5O12) crystals have been grown by temperature-gradient techniques (TGT) and their color centers and impurity defects were investigated by means of gamma irradiations and thermal treatment. Two color centers located at 255 and 290 nm were observed in the as-grown TGT-Yb: YAG. Analysis shows that the 255 nm band may be associated with Fe3+ ions. Absorption intensity changes of the 290 nm band after gamma irradiation and thermal treatment indicate that this band may be associated with oxygen-vacancy defects. (c) 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Optimization of thermal environment during crystal growth of large-sized Nd : YAG by Temperature Gradient Technique

A finite-element model is employed to analysis the thermal environments in Temperature Gradient Technique (TGT) furnace during the growth of large-sized Nd:YAG crystal. The obtained results show that when the crucible is located at the lower position inside of the heater, a flatter solid-liquid interface is established, which makes it easier to obtain the core-free Nd:YAG crystal. Meanwhile, the lower crucible position can induce higher axial temperature gradient, which is beneficial to the release of latent heat. (c) 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Spectroscopic properties of Ce : YAP scintillation crystal grown by temperature gradient technique

Spectroscopic properties of Ce-doped yttrium orthoaluminate (Ce:YAlO3 or Ce:YAP) crystals grown by temperature gradient technique (TGT) were investigated, and the effects of the growth conditions on the properties were analyzed.. Methods of optical absorption (OA), photoluminescence (PL), photoluminescence decay (PLD), X-ray excited luminescence (XL) and cathodeluminescence (CL) were used in these investigations. The results showed that the absorption band peak at 202, 394 and 532 nm originated from F and F+ color center induced by the weak reducing growth atmosphere, green emission band near 500 ran derived from Ce3+ -Ce3+ pairs and band at 650 similar to 850 run from some unintentional impurity in crystals.

Anisotropic crystallographic properties, strain, and their effects on band structure of m -plane GaN on LiAlO2 (100)

The m-plane GaN films grown on LiAlO2(100) by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition exhibit anisotropic crystallographic properties. The Williamson-Hall plots point out they are due to the different tilts and lateral correlation lengths of mosaic blocks parallel and perpendicular to GaN[0001] in the growth plane. The symmetric and asymmetric reciprocal space maps reveal the strain of m-plane GaN to be biaxial in-plane compress epsilon(xx)=-0.79% and epsilon(zz)=-0.14% with an out-of-plane dilatation epsilon(yy)=0.38%. This anisotropic strain further separates the energy levels of top valence band at Gamma point. The energy splitting as 37 meV as well as in-plane polarization anisotropy for transitions are found by the polarized photoluminescence spectra at room temperature. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Growth of highly sensitive thermoluminescent crystal alpha-Al2O3 : C by the temperature gradient technique

In this work, an alpha-Al2O3:C crystal with highly sensitive thermoluminescence was directly grown by the temperature gradient technique (TGT) using Al2O3 and graphite powders as raw materials. The optical and luminescent properties and the dosimetric characteristics of the crystal were investigated. An as-grown alpha-Al2O3:C crystal shows a single glow peak at 462 K and a blue emission peak at 415 nm. The thermoluminescence (TL) response of the crystal shows a linear-sublinear-saturation characteristic. In the dose range from 5 x 10(-6) to 10Gy, the alpha-Al2O3:C crystal shows excellent linearity, and saturation was observed at about 30Gy. The sensitivity of the crystal decreases as the heating rate increases. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.