Hydrothermal Growth of Large Sound Crystals of Zinc Oxide

Abstract

Large (10 to 20 g) macroscopically sound ZnO crystals suitable for preliminary transducer and other studies have been grown hydrothermally at rates of from 10 to 15 mils per day. The factors found to be important in achieving good growth were (1) base concentration of growth solution, (2) temperature difference between dissolving and growth regions, (3) presaturation of growth solution, (4) warm‐up procedure, (5) addition of Li+ to the growth solution to suppress dendrite formation, (6) etching to remove seed damage, and (7) nutrient size. Each of the foregoing factors was studied and is discussed.