Growth and Manipulation of Barium Oxide Crystals

Abstract

A method is described for growing crystals of BaO from the vapor. Seeds of BaO crystals or ``pseudoseeds'' of MgO crystals are placed in an enclosure of BaO in a vacuum furnace and heated at 1400°C. Single BaO crystals as large as 1×10×10 mm have been grown by this method. Since BaO decomposes very rapidly in the ordinary atmosphere, special techniques for manipulating the crystals are described. These techniques are useful in experiments on the optical, electrical, and electronic properties of BaO.