Investigation of the growth mechanism in high-temperature solutions by the induced striation method. I. Dissolution striations

Abstract

During the growth of yttrium iron garnet (YIG) and gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) in a high temperature solution, temperature jumps are superposed in a definite way to the slow cooling program. This results in the appearance of “dissolution striations” in the crystal the properties of which differ characteristically from normally grown regions. By microprobe investigations it is found that in YIG within the regrown regions the Y content is 0.2 wt% higher, the Fe content 0.2 wt% lower, and the Pb impurity content 0.1 wt% lower. “Dissolution striations” in GGG are investigated by stress birefringence. A lattice compression in growth direction of Δa/a = 1 × 10−4 is found within striations. The results are discussed in a boundary layer model regarding the different interface structure of regrown and normally grown regions.