Top-seeded solution growth and morphology change of RbTiOPO4:Ta single crystal

The RbTiOPO 4 :Ta single crystal with dimensions of 4 mm × 31 mm × 18 mm was successfully grown by Top Seeded Solution Growth Technique. It is concluded that the doping Ta element can strongly influence the growth and morphology of the RbTiOPO 4 crystal. The evident morphology change of RbTiOPO 4 :Ta crystal with respect to RbTiOPO 4 crystal has been observed and the (1 0 0) crystal face was more developed than any other crystal faces. The possible reasons of the morphology change were analyzed through experimental and theoretical methods. Several methods were tried to increase crystallographic a direction dimension of RbTiOPO 4 :Ta crystals. Finally, the RbTiOPO 4 :Ta single crystal with crystallographic a direction dimension up to 6 mm was obtained by using thicker seed crystal. This way makes it possible to get isometric RbTiOPO 4 :Ta crystals, which is beneficial for nonlinear optical applications due to larger area in x-y plane.