Unidirectional growth of benzophenone single crystals from solution

Uniaxial benzophenone crystals along (1 1 0), (0 1 0), and (1 0 0)-oriented were grown by uniaxially solution-crystallization method of Sankaranarayanan-Ramasamy (SR). The experimental parameters involved in the present study were investigated in detail and a constant growth rate was achieved by compensating the loss of growth units in the solution. A transparent uniaxial benzophenone crystal having dimension of 500 mm length and 55 mm diameter was grown at room temperature for the first time in the literature. In contrast to the conventional solution growth method, the growth rate along each direction was measured at ease during the respective growth experiment by monitoring the elevation of the solid-liquid interface. The scaling up was found to be less complicated compared to hitherto known crystal growth methods.