Hydrothermal growth of La³⁺-doped SrF₂ single crystal

Abstract

Both pure and doped (with rare earth or other inorganic ions) alkali earth fluoride single crystals have widely been grown by the Bridgmann—Stockbarger [1, 2], Czochralski [3, 4], and melting [5] methods. These methods require an HF atmosphere and high temperature due to their high melting points. These requirements have often brought about the contamination from containers and/or the atmosphere. We reported possible growth of some fluoride single crystals under hydrothermal conditions at low temperatures such as 400 to 700° C [6, 7]. In the present work, we have studied the possibility of hydrothermal growth of La³⁺-doped SrF₂ single crystals.