Growth of high-quality βII-Li3VO4 single crystals by the Czochralski method

We have successfully grown colorless and crack-free beta(II)-Li3VO4 single crystals by the Czochralski method using a self-flux. To improve the quantity of crystals, we installed a heat reservoir in the growing furnace, used the melt composition as Li2CO3:V2O5 = 58:42 (Li/58) to avoid the unnecessary phase transition and set the growth temperature below 700degreesC to avoid the cracking. The physical properties of the crystals were studied by the powder X-ray diffraction, impedance/gain phase, differential thermal analysis (DTA), and UV-VIS transmittance spectroscopy measurements. We found that the physical properties of Li/58 crystals were almost identical to those of Li/70 crystals except the UV-VIS transmittance data. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.