Growth and structural characterization of M-type GdTaO4 single crystal fiber

The laser heated pedestal growth technique was used to obtain single crystal fiber of M-type GdTaO4. The fibers were around 3 cm long, ∅0.8 mm, transparent, colorless and did not exhibit any inclusions. The structural quality of the fibers was evaluated by X-ray rocking curve profiles and X-ray topography. Better quality crystals were grown perpendicular to (0 1 0) direction presenting rocking curve FWHM typically around 52 arcsec for the (32¯3) reflection. The results confirm that good structural fibers can be successfully obtained by the procedure presented here.