Growth-induced inhomogeneities in synthetic quartz crystals revealed by the cathodoluminescence method

Abstract

The +X growth sector of synthetic quartz crystals shows a stack of luminescent and non-luminescent blocks in cathodoluminescence tomograph. Within luminescent blocks, striations consisting of alternating luminescent and non-luminescent bands are visible. These inhomogeneous textures in the +X growth sector are correlated to the surface microtopographs of the +X face, on which m face (m-riser), S face (s-riser) and true +X face (tread) are seen. The observed striations and block structures appear in the +X growth sector, due to the differences in impurity incorporations and growth rates among m-, s-risers and tread.