Growth of unidirectional potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate single crystal by SR method and its characterization

Unidirectional <100> potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate (KDP) single crystals were grown for the first time by Sankaranarayanan-Ramasamy (SR) method. The <100> oriented seed crystals were mounted at the bottom of the glass ampoules and the crystal of 15 mm diameter, 65 mm height were grown by SR method. The grown crystals were characterized by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), etching studies. The HRXRD analysis indicates that the crystalline perfection is excellent without having any very low angle internal structural grain boundaries. Dislocation density is less in SR grown KDP compared to conventional method grown KDP.