Hydrothermal single crystal growth of Sc2O3 and lanthanide-doped Sc2O3

Abstract Single crystals of Sc 2 O 3 hold great promise as potential hosts for high-energy lasers, but the extremely refractory nature of this oxide makes crystal growth difficult. Hydrothermal methods have been used to synthesize and grow single crystals of Sc 2 O 3 and Er:Sc 2 O 3 at a temperature over 1800 °C below their melting point. Scandia crystals up to 6 mm in size have been obtained by spontaneous nucleation. A preliminary hydrothermal growth study was performed and rates of up to 0.16 mm/day were observed for seeded growth of both Sc 2 O 3 and Er:Sc 2 O 3 . Hydrothermal scandia has also been doped with trivalent Ho, Tm and Yb, making this an attractive technique for the growth of refractory optical crystals.

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