MORPHOLOGY OF Y3FE5O12 SINGLE-CRYSTALS GROWN FROM HIGH-TEMPERATURE SOLUTION

Single crystals of YIG were grown from high temperature solutions by t he slow cooling method and by the temperature gradient transport metho d. The morphological change of YIG depending on flux composition, cool ing rate, growth temperature and rotation speed was investigated. In h ighly viscous flux composition, even at a lower cooling rate, the {211 } faces developed dominantly, but in a less viscous flux composition, even at a relatively fast cooling rate, the {110} faces were dominant. At a higher growth temperature and rotation speed, the {110} faces we re dominantly developed. Relative growth rates of the {211} faces agai nst the {110} faces were calculated from the geometrical relation of t he two faces. The morphological change caused by the relative growth r ates was investigated through repeated systematic growth experiments. The correlation between the relative growth rate and the growth condit ions, i.e., the cooling rate and the flux composition, was derived fro m the extrapolation of the experimental plotting. The relative growth rate at a point was estimated to be independent of flux composition at a fixed cooling rate.