Interesting growth features in potassium dihydrogen phosphate: unravelling the origin and dynamics of point defects in single crystals

Abstract

In a potassium dihydrogen phosphate single crystal grown by the temperature-lowering technique, some interesting growth features revealing the origin of point defects, their agglomeration and dynamics were observed. High-resolution X-ray diffractometry was employed for in-depth studies of the observed defects. Since the crucial properties of crystal-based devices are very much influenced by such defects, this is an important experimental finding with respect to improving growth techniques or conditions to avoid such defects.