Crystal Growth and Structural Refinements of the Y2SiO5, Y2Si2O7 and LaBSiO5 Single Crystals

The laser crystals of chromium doped yttrium oxyorthosilicate (YSO) were grown from the melt by Czochralski technique. The crystals of YSO, yttrium pyrosilicate and stillwellite-like lanthanum borosilicate were obtained from high temperature solutions. Lithium and potassium di- and trimolybdates were used as fluxes in the growth experiments on silicate crystals. In the case of borosilicate crystals, the choice of fluxes was based on the potassium trimolybdate with an excess of potassium fluoride. The composition of grown crystals was studied by electron microprobe analysis, and structural characteristics were determined for all the single crystals