Growth of Large Single Crystals of Black Phosphorus under High Pressure

Abstract

A large volume high pressure apparatus has made it possible to grow large single crystals of black phosphorus, P. After converting red P powder into black P under a high pressure of 10 kbar at high temperature, a melt of polycrystalline black P has been gradually solidified to bring about the growth of single crystals. Crystal sizes larger than 5×5×10 mm 3 are, for the first time, adequate for various measurements of the physical properties expected for this narrow gap semiconductor with a special layered structure. An X-ray analysis has proved the good single crystalline structure.