Morphologies of solid-liquid interface and surface steps during rapid growth of BaB2O4 single crystals

Abstract

The evolution of solid-liquid interface during BBO single crystal growth was studied by the differential interference microscopy. And the step morphology on (0001) surface of the as-grown crystal was observed by the atomic force microscopy as well. It was found that the transition from a flat solid-liquid interface to a skeletal shape will occur in case of rapid growth. However, AFM images of surface steps revealed morphology differences correlated with crystallographic directions. The steps advancing along 10 1 0 direction form the step flow, whereas those steps propagating along 01 1 direction shape into step segments. Measurements of step heights by AFM indicated that it is the high anisotropy of the dimension of growth unit and step bunching due to the enlargement of concentration difference along the surface that results in the anisotropy of step morphologies. © 2007 Science in China Press.