Bridgman growth of Sr3NbGa3Si2O14 single crystal

A new langasite structure piezoelectric single crystal Sr3NbGa3Si2O14 (SNGS) had been grown by the vertical Bridgman method for the first time. SNGS crystalline powder was synthesized as the starting material by sintering the mixture of 4N pure SrCO3, Nb2O5, SiO2 and Ga2O3 at 1200 °C for 16 h. 〈0 0 1〉-oriented La3Ga5SiO14 (LGS) crystal of Ø10 mm × 35 mm was used as seed. A SNGS crystal with 25 mm in diameter and 40 mm in length has been grown from its stoichiometric melt. The transmittance spectra were measured and the transmittance of SNGS crystal was found to be greater than 80% in wavelength of 400–1000 nm.