Large bismuth oxide single crystal prepared by aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition on amorphous substrates

Abstract

Large Bi2O3 single crystals over tens of microns were grown on amorphous glass substrates from an aqueous solution by using aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition. The chelating agent not only stabilizes bismuth ions, but also modifies the kinetic crystal growth dynamics on substrates, resulting in well-developed parallelepiped-shaped single crystals. The crystal shape, size and its growth process are investigated with respect to both substrate temperature (Ts) and deposition time (td). Under low Ts, it is more like a layer-by-layer growth mechanism with well-defined crystal habit, crystal size and its distribution, while as increasing td, crystals grow mainly laterally along the substrate surface with nearly constant crystal thickness, which finally coalesce with each other without observable boundaries.