Advanced Crystal Growth Technology
Although the fundamental mechanism of crystal growth has received and continues to receive deserved attention as a research activity, similar research efforts addressing the need for advanced materials and processing technology required to grow future high quality crystals has been sorely lacking. The purpose of this research effort is to develop advanced rapid growth processing technologies and materials suitable for providing the quality of products needed for advanced laser and photonics applications. In particular we are interested in developing a methodology for growing high quality KDP crystals based on an understanding of the fundamental mechanisms affecting growth. One problem in particular is the issue of control of impurities during the growth process. Many unwanted impurities are derived from the growth system containers and can adversely affect the optical quality and aspect ratio (shape) of the crystals. Previous studies have shown that even trace concentrations ({approx}10{sup -9} M) of impurities affect growth and even 'insignificant' species can have a large impact. It is also known that impurities affect the two growth faces of KDP very differently. Traces of trivalent metal impurities such as Fe{sup 3+}, Cr{sup 3+}, and Al{sup 3+} in solution are known to inhibit growth of the prismatic {l_brace}100{r_brace} faces of KDP while having little effect on the growth of the pyramidal {l_brace}101{r_brace} faces. This differentiation opens the possibility of intentionally adding select ions to control the aspect ratio of the crystal to obtain a more advantageous shape. This document summarizes our research efforts to improve KDP crystal growth. The first step was to control unwanted impurity addition from the growth vessel by developing an FEP liner to act as a barrier to the glass container. The other focus to develop an understanding of select impurities on growth rates in order to be able to use them to control the habit or shape of the crystal for yield improvement.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 917916
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-TR-210700; TRN: US200817%%1024
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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