Single Crystal Values Research Articles

(Invited) Applications of Complimentary FETs Using Low Temperature Deposited Phase Composite Semiconductor Channel Materials

Phase composite material is an ultrathin film structure having both crystalline islands and amorphous matrix which exhibit unique carrier conduction properties. Due to the coupling of conduction states between quantum dot like crystalline islands, an isolated conduction band is formed near the mobility edge of the conduction band of amorphous states. Effective mobility of carrier conduction via the mobility edge states are in between the values of single crystal and polycrystalline film. The primary benefit of phase composite material is the process compatibility with silicon process, especially at the back end of line process where the process temperature is limited below 400°C. Since this material state can be easily formed using high pressure atomic layer deposition process at low temperature below 200°C, various semiconductor channel materials can be deposited on arbitrary shaped substrate. Using the process flexibility of this process, nMOS and pMOS can be easily fabricated in planar form or in vertically integrated form. In this talk, various applications of devices fabricate using phase composite semiconductor channel materials will be discussed.

Fabrication and luminescent properties of highly transparent novel high-entropy (Lu0.2Y0.2Gd0.2Yb0.2Er0.2)2O3 ceramic

The highly transparent novel high-entropy (Lu0.2Y0.2Gd0.2Yb0.2Er0.2)2O3 ceramic was successfully fabricated by the addition of 3 at.% ZrO2 and 10 at.% La2O3 introduced as sintering additives via vacuum sintering. A single-phase solid solution cubic structure of the ceramic was obtained with a relative density of 99.95 % and an average grain size of 6.91±3.28 µm. The grain boundary of the (Lu0.2Y0.2Gd0.2Yb0.2Er0.2)2O3 ceramic was clean with a thickness of only 1.3 nm. Further observations revealed uniform distribution of all elements in the grains, and the presence of La and Zr segregation (1.5 nm thick) at few grain boundaries, but causing very little light scattering. The in-line transmittance of high-entropy (Lu0.2Y0.2Gd0.2Yb0.2Er0.2)2O3 ceramic reached 80 % at 1100 nm, which was 98.7 % of the theoretical value of Er2O3 single crystal. Also, there were fluorescence emissions observed in the ultraviolet (311 nm), visible (563, 622 nm), and near-infrared (1032, 1535 nm) regions. In addition, the intense red emission and weak green emission were detected, and the broad emission with a peak at 1.5 μm was attributed to Stark splitting of Er3+ ions, so the corresponding mechanism was discussed. Results obtained suggest that the highly transparent novel high-entropy (Lu0.2Y0.2Gd0.2Yb0.2Er0.2)2O3 ceramic fabricated in this study could have broad application prospects in optical applications such as scintillators, up-conversion luminescent materials, and infrared lasers.

Single crystalline Holmium doped InSe for optical limiting operation in Near-IR region

Single crystals possessing nonlinear absorption (NA) character are favorable optical limiter in near infrared region (NIR). The NA features of pure and 0.005%, 0.05%, 0.1% Holmium (Ho) doped single crystals of InSe were analyzed at 1200 nm wavelength within 120 fs and 1 kHz repetition rate. The open-aperture Z-scan technique was employed to determine the NA performance and optical limiting-(OL) threshold. In an attempt to determine the NA coefficients, two types of theoretical models were used. The first model takes into account only the two photon absorption-(TPA), while the second model considers one photon absorption, TPA and free carrier absorption. Based on the experimental results, the main NA mechanism of the studied single crystals is determined as sequential TPA. TPA coefficient value of the pure InSe single crystal increased from 1.41 × 10−10 to 10.7 × 10−10 cm W−1 with increasing Ho doping concentration at 398.1 GW cm−2 input intensity. The NA coefficients increased from 0.84 × 10−9 to 1.62 × 10−9 cm W−1 at the same input intensity. On the other hand, the OL threshold values were found to be 0.027, 0.025, 0.022 and 0.020 J cm−2 at 1200 nm wavelength for pure InSe and the increasing Ho concentration, respectively. The robust NA characteristics and the low OL threshold establish the Ho-doped InSe single crystal as a favorable candidate for OL applications in the NIR spectral region.

Powder aerosol deposited calcium cobaltite as textured P-type thermoelectric material with power factors approaching single crystal values

In this work, the thermoelectric material calcium cobaltite Ca3Co4O9 (CCO), a promising p-type conducting thermoelectric oxide with anisotropic properties, was processed by the powder aerosol deposition method (PAD) to form a dense ceramic CCO film with a thickness in the µm range. The prepared films were characterized regarding their microstructure and thermoelectric properties between room temperature and 900 °C. After heat treatment at 900 °C, the CCO PAD film in-plane shows excellent properties in terms of electrical conductivity (280 S/cm at 900 °C) and Seebeck coefficient (220 µV/K at 900 °C). The calculated power factor in-plane (ab) reaches with 1125 µW/(m K2) 40 % of the single crystal value, surpassing the known-properties of CCO bulk ceramics. Examination of the microstructure shows a strong fiber texture of the film as well as a strong coarsening of the grains during the first heat treatment up to 900 °C.

Self-poling and DC poling of Mn doped Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-Pb(ZrTi)O3 single crystals grown by a solid state crystal growth process

Acceptor Mn-doped Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-Pb(ZrTi)O3 (PMN-PZT) single crystals (SCs) grown by a solid state crystal growth (SSCG) process electrode with Ag at 650 °C showed a high piezoelectric coefficient (d 33) of 520 pC N−1 at 25 °C by self-poling, i.e. without any additional poling process. Upon heating above the Curie temperature (T c), the impedance characteristics’ oscillation peak due to piezoelectricity disappears. However, as the temperature falls below T c, these oscillation peaks reemerge around T c. And when the temperature is further lowered to around RT, the impedance characteristics return to almost the original state. The d 33 values of the non-poled SCs, initially 520 pC N−1, increased to 910 pC N−1 after DC poling (DCP) and to 1170 pC N−1 after field cooling (FC)-DCP. These values surpass those of commercially available high-Qm PZT ceramics. These high-Qm PMN-PZT single crystals developed using the SSCG method demonstrate huge potential for future transducer applications.

Dense Stacking of Millimeter‐Sized Perovskite Single Crystals for Sensitive and Low‐Bias Hard X‐Ray Detection

AbstractMetal halide perovskite single crystals are promising for hard X‐ray detection, but growth of large‐sized thin single crystals and inhibition of halide ion migration under high bias are challenging. Herein, the preparation of dense stacking of oriented millimeter‐sized perovskite single crystals with capability of large‐area fabrication, controlled thickness, and high ion migration activation energy (Ea)is reported. The oriented growth results in absence of grain boundaries parallel with the substrates, leading to large carrier mobility‐lifetime (µτ) product of 2.7 × 10−3 cm2 V−1, which is comparable to values of many perovskite bulk single crystals. Under low bias, hard X‐ray detectors exhibit high sensitivity of 1.2 × 104 µC Gy−1 cm−2 and low detection limit of 87.5 nGy s−1, which are comparable to those of many single‐crystal hard X‐ray detectors under high bias. Moreover, combination of low bias and high Ea results in weak halide ion migration and small dark current drift of 3.2 × 10−4 nA cm−1 s−1 v−1. Benefited from the superior detector performance, high‐contrast hard X‐ray imaging can be obtained at a low dose rate of 1.26 µGy s−1. The work may promote the application of perovskite hard X‐ray detectors in practical imaging area.

Effects of thermal annealing on thermal conductivity of LPCVD silicon carbide thin films

The thermal conductivity (k) of polycrystalline SiC thin films is relevant for thermal management in emerging SiC applications like microelectromechanical and optoelectronic devices. In such films, k can be substantially reduced by microstructure features including grain boundaries, thin film surfaces, and porosity, although these microstructural effects can also be manipulated through thermal annealing. Here, we investigate these effects by using microfabricated suspended devices to measure the thermal conductivities of nine low-pressure chemical vapor deposition SiC films of varying thicknesses (from 120 to 300 nm) and annealing conditions (as-grown and annealed at 950 and 1100 °C for 2 h, and in one case 17 h). Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction spectra, and density measurements are also used to characterize the effects of annealing on the microstructure of selected samples. Compared to as-deposited films, annealing at 1100 °C typically increases the estimated grain size from 5.5 to 6.6 nm while decreasing the porosity from around 6.5% to practically fully dense. This corresponds to a 34% increase in the measured thin film thermal conductivity near room temperature from 5.8 to 7.8 W/m K. These thermal conductivity measurements show good agreement of better than 3% with fits using a simple theoretical model based on the kinetic theory combined with a Maxwell–Garnett porosity correction. Grain boundary scattering plays the dominant role in reducing the thermal conductivity of these films compared to bulk single-crystal values, while both grain size increase and porosity decrease play important roles in the partial k recovery of the films upon annealing. This work demonstrates the effects of modifying the microstructure and, thus, the thermal conductivity of SiC thin films by thermal annealing.

Enhanced piezoelectric properties and depolarization temperature in textured (Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3-based ceramics via homoepitaxial templated grain growth

Enhanced piezoelectric response was usually achieved in (Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3 (BNT)-based ceramics with sacrifice of depolarization temperature Td, seriously limiting their usage range in electromechanical applications. In this work, we propose to explore piezoelectric anisotropy and domain engineering in composition & microstructure-controlled textured ceramics to resolve this issue. [001]c-textured 0.94(Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3–0.06BaTiO3 (0.94BNT-0.06BT) ceramics with Lotgering factor F001∼91% were fabricated through homoepitaxial templated grain growth (TGG) via using 0.94BNT-0.06BT microplatelet templates. The textured samples exhibited more ordered domains with facilitated domain switching behavior, being consistent with saturated high polarization achieved at lower electric fields. Increasing F001 to above 60% enables rapid enhancement of piezoelectric response. Notably, compared to non-textured counterpart, the maximally textured ceramics exhibited ∼236% enhanced piezoelectric coefficient (d33∼302 pC/N) and ∼280% enhanced piezoelectric voltage coefficient (g33∼49.8 × 10−3 Vm/N), together with slightly increased depolarization temperature (Td∼106 °C). Moreover, those values are approaching or even higher than the single-crystal values. This work not only provides important guidelines for design and synthesis of novel textured ceramics with improved comprehensive electrical properties, but also can expand application fields of BNT-based ceramics.

Ferromagnetic resonators synthesized by metal-organic decomposition epitaxy

Metal-organic decomposition epitaxy is an economical wet-chemical approach suitable to synthesize high-quality low-spin-damping films for resonator and oscillator applications. This work reports the temperature dependence of ferromagnetic resonances and associated structural and magnetic quantities of yttrium iron garnet nanofilms that coincide with single-crystal values. Despite imperfections originating from wet-chemical deposition and spin coating, the quality factor for out-of-plane and in-plane resonances approaches 600 and 1000, respectively, at room temperature and 40 GHz. These values increase with temperature and are 100 times larger than those offered by commercial devices based on complementary metal-oxide semiconductor voltage-controlled oscillators at comparable production costs.

Some morpholine tethered novel aurones: Design, synthesis, biological, kinetic and molecular docking studies

Enzymes are the biological macromolecules that have emerged as an important drug target as their upregulation/imbalance leads to various pathological conditions, such as inflammation, parasitic infection, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and many others. Here, we designed and synthesized some morpholine tethered novel aurones and evaluated them as potential inhibitors for CTSB, α-amylase, lipase and activator for trypsin. All the newly synthesized compounds were fully characterized by various spectroscopic techniques (1H NMR, 13C NMR, HRMS) and the Z-configuration to them was assigned based on single crystal XRD data and 1H NMR chemical shift values. Further, the hybrids were evaluated for their intracellular (cathepsin B) and extracellular (trypsin, lipase, amylase) enzyme inhibition potencies. The in-vitro inhibition screening against cathepsin B revealed that most of the synthesized compounds are good competitive inhibitors (% inhibition = 22.91–75.04), with 6q (% inhibition = 75.04) and 6r (% inhibition = 71.13) as the eminent inhibitors of the series. At the same time, they exhibited weak to moderate inhibition towards amylase (% inhibition = 7.22–22.48) and lipase (% inhibition = 16.29–54.83). A significant trypsin activation (% activation = 107.42–196.47) was observed even at the micromolar concentration of the compounds. Furthermore, the drug-modeling studies showed a good correlation between the in-vitro experimental results and the calculated binding affinity of the screened compounds with all the tested enzymes. These findings are expected to provide a new lead in drug development for different pathological disorders wherever these enzymes are involved.

Increasing the friction stress decreases the size dependence of strength in a family of face-centered cubic high- and medium-entropy alloy micropillars

Size effects (‘smaller is stronger’) are important aspects of the mechanical behavior of materials. Experimentally, they are usually probed by performing compression tests on micropillars of different sizes (cross-sectional areas). To overcome limitations associated with comparing different crystal structures and to better handle the influence of melting points in different metals, single crystal face centered cubic (fcc) micropillars of equiatomic binary, ternary, and quaternary medium-entropy alloy (MEA) subsystems of the quinary CrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) were tested. All eight alloys investigated were single-phase solid solutions having the fcc crystal structure. Their melting temperatures varied only over a narrow range (1189-1462 °C). They exhibit a size-dependent critical resolved shear stress (CRSS ∝ d-n, where d is the pillar diameter, n is a power law exponent). The results show that, all else being equal, size effects scale inversely with friction stress. In contrast, there is no systematic dependence on configurational entropy, contrary to speculations in some earlier papers that solid solution strengthening would increase as the number of alloying elements increases. ‘Bulk’ CRSS values were estimated by extrapolating the measured CRSS values of pillars with diameters of approximately 1-8 μm to larger pillar sizes of 30 μm. Good agreement was found with available CRSS values of bulk single crystals. It is concluded that it is possible to obtain bulk CRSS values more reliably from micropillar tests than from the Taylor factor corrected yield strengths of bulk polycrystals.

Regulating photosalient behavior in dynamic metal-organic crystals

Dynamic photoactuating crystals have become a sensation due to their potential applications in developing smart medical devices, molecular machines, artificial muscles, flexible electronics actuators, probes and microrobots. Here we report the synthesis of two iso-structural metal-organic crystals, [Zn(4-ohbz)2(4-nvp)2] (1) and [Cd(4-ohbz)2(4-nvp)2] (2) {H4-ohbz = 4-hydroxy benzoic acid; 4-nvp = 4-(1-naphthylvinyl)pyridine} which undergo topochemical [2 + 2] cycloaddition under UV irradiation as well as sunlight to generate a dimerized product of discrete metal-complex [Zn(4-ohbz)2(rctt-4-pncb)] {rctt-4-pncb = 1,3-bis(4′-pyridyl)-2,4-bis(naphthyl)cyclobutane} (1′) and one-dimensional coordination polymer (1D CP) [Cd(4-ohbz)2(rctt-4-pncb)] (2′) respectively, in a single-crystal-to-single-crystal (SCSC) process. The Zn-based compound demonstrates photosalient behaviour, wherein crystals show jumping, splitting, rolling, and swelling upon UV irradiation. However, the Cd-based crystals do not show such behaviour maintaining the initial supramolecular packing and space group. Thus the photomechanical behaviour can be induced by choosing a suitable metal ion. The above findings are thoroughly validated by quantitative density functional theory (DFT) calculations which show that the Zn-based crystal shifts towards an orthorhombic structure to resolve the anisotropic UV-induced mechanical strain. Furthermore, the mechano-structure-property relationship has been established by complimentary nanoindentation measurements, which are in-line with the DFT-predicted single crystal values.

Metal–insulator transition of vanadium dioxide and the role of grain boundaries

The metal–insulator transition (MIT) in polycrystalline vanadium dioxide (VO2) is less sharp than in single-crystal VO2 due to the presence of grain boundaries (GBs). The MIT causes a resistivity change (Ron/Roff) across the MIT to decline from the single-crystal value of ∼104 and also causes a larger hysteresis across the transition. The properties of GBs in VO2 are studied as a function of GB tilt angle. We find that V–V site pairing, which causes a monoclinic phase VO2 to be semiconducting in bulk, also controls bandgap opening at GBs, thus influencing the overall metal–insulator behavior. The almost linear relationship between the ratio of adhesion energy divided by two times the surface energy and the GB energy indicates that the GB energy of twin GBs is primarily determined by re-binding across the GB rather than by the corresponding surface energy. Moreover, a steeper linear fit, characterized by a slope of 0.62, observed in the monoclinic phase VO2 suggests that the GB energy and stability have a higher tolerance to interfacial distortion at the boundary, compared to the rutile phase VO2 and TiO2.

Protonation of Imino Moiety in Aminoguanidine by Heterolytic O–H Bond Cleavage on Phthalic Acid: Theoretical, Experimental and DNA Binding Studies

Aqueous neutralization reaction between aminoguanidine hydrogencarbonate and phthalic acid yielded the crystals of aminoguanidine hydrogenphthalate monohydrate (AHPMH). The crystal quality is further improved by repeated recrystallization and single crystals were obtained. The single crystal XRD data reveals that the compound crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system with the Cc space group. The unit cell consists of four molecules (z = 4) and in the crystal lattice they are linked by O–H···O and N–H···O intermolecular hydrogen bonding. Geometrical and vibrational analyses were performed by B3LYP/6311G(d,p) basis set and compared with the single crystal XRD values. The Mulliken charge and molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) analyses have been used to predict the reaction behaviour and bond cleavage fashion during the reaction. The heterolytic O-H bonding electrons are shifted towards the oxygen atom (-0.6112 e) and it possesses high electronegative which influenced the formation of strong hydrogen bond. The binding constant (Kb) of the AHPMH indicates that strong interactions are developed between the title compound and CT-DNA.

Spatially nanoconfined N-type polymer semiconductors for stretchable ultrasensitive X-ray detection

Polymer semiconductors are promising candidates for wearable and skin-like X-ray detectors due to their scalable manufacturing, adjustable molecular structures and intrinsic flexibility. Herein, we fabricated an intrinsically stretchable n-type polymer semiconductor through spatial nanoconfinement effect for ultrasensitive X-ray detectors. The design of high-orientation nanofiber structures and dense interpenetrating polymer networks enhanced the electron-transporting efficiency and stability of the polymer semiconductors. The resultant polymer semiconductors exhibited an ultrahigh sensitivity of 1.52 × 104 μC Gyair−1 cm−2, an ultralow detection limit of 37.7 nGyair s−1 (comparable to the record-low value of perovskite single crystals), and polymer film X-ray imaging was achieved at a low dose rate of 3.65 μGyair s−1 (about 1/12 dose rate of the commercial medical chest X-ray diagnosis). Meanwhile, the hybrid semiconductor films could sustain 100% biaxial stretching strain with minimal degeneracy in photoelectrical performances. These results provide insights into future high-performance, low-cost e-skin photoelectronic detectors and imaging.

Nanomechanical Characterization of Enzyme Induced Carbonate Precipitates

The mechanical properties of calcium carbonate minerals formed by enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation (EICP) were studied using nanoindentation. Two types of precipitates were considered: (i) a “baseline” precipitate, synthesized via urea hydrolysis in an aqueous solution of urease enzyme, urea, and calcium chloride; and (ii) a “modified” precipitate, synthesized from a similar solution, but with the inclusion of nonfat dry milk. While both precipitates predominantly comprised calcite, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy indicated broader peaks in the modified precipitate, implying differences in the crystal structure of the two precipitates. Both precipitates were polycrystalline and had a higher average indentation hardness (H) and a lower indentation modulus (M) compared with the values for single calcite crystals reported in the literature. The ductility of the precipitates was quantified by the ratio M/H. The modified precipitate had a higher average M/H, implying greater ductility. The increased ductility of the modified precipitate results in higher resistance to crack propagation. In sands biocemented using the modified EICP solution, the increased ductility of the precipitate, in addition to preferential precipitation at interparticle contacts, may contribute to relatively high unconfined compressive strengths at low carbonate contents.

Highly Oriented Organic Ferroelectric Films with Single-Crystal-Level Properties from Restrained Crystallization

Crystallization is a key for ferroelectricity which is a collective behavior of microscopic electric dipoles. On the other hand, uncontrolled crystallization leads to uneven morphology and random crystal orientations, which undermines the application potential of ferroelectric thin films. In this work, we introduce a film fabrication method of low-temperature physical vapor deposition followed by restrained crystallization, with electrical properties monitored in real-time by in situ measurements. This method was adopted to fabricate films of 2-methylbenzimidazole (MBI), whose molecule crystals are proton-transfer type biaxial ferroelectrics and tend to grow into a hedgehog-shaped spherulites morphology. The in situ measurements confirm that the crystallization, corresponding to a clear transition of physical properties, occurs dominantly during post-deposition warming. This enables the fabrication of micron-thick films in disk-shaped morphology with one polarization axis aligned along the out-of-plane direction, while the measured spontaneous polarization and coercive field are comparable to the single-crystal values. These results mark an important advancement of film growth that is expected to benefit widely the fabrication of molecular materials films whose functional properties hinge on crystallization to achieve desirable morphology and crystallinity.

Role of Grain Size on Magnon and Phonon Thermal Transport in the Spin Ladder Compound Ca9La5Cu24O41

The antiferromagnetic spin ladder compound Ca9La5Cu24O41 is a promising material for thermal management applications due to its largest magnon thermal conductivity near room temperature among all magnetic materials. It remains elusive how boundary and defect scattering processes affect the magnon and phonon thermal transport in this material. Here, we report the thermal transport investigation of Ca9La5Cu24O41 polycrystals with different grain sizes as compared with single crystals. The thermal conductivity measurements reveal the contrasting role of size effects on magnon and phonon transport. As the average grain size decreases from 4.2 to 0.83 μm, the lattice thermal conductivity of polycrystalline Ca9La5Cu24O41 below about 100 K is significantly suppressed, due to the enhanced phonon-boundary scattering. In comparison, the magnon thermal transport is less affected by grain size. According to kinetic model analysis, the magnon mean free paths of two polycrystals are found to be much smaller than the single-crystal values, which is attributed to the magnon-defect scattering instead of magnon-boundary scattering. The obtained magnon mean free path of about 65 Å near 100 K is comparable to the lattice constant of the unit cell along the spin ladder direction, suggesting possible magnon localization in the disordered polycrystalline samples. These results offer useful insights into the development of magnetic materials for spin caloritronic and thermal management applications.

Extremely High Thermal Conductivity of Aligned Polyacetylene Predicted using First-Principles-Informed United-Atom Force Field

Molecular simulations of polymer rely on accurate force fields to describe the inter-atomic interactions. In this work, we use first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations to parameterize a united-atom force field for polyacetylene (PA), a conjugated polymer potentially of high thermal conductivity. Different electron correlation functionals in DFT have been tested. Bonding interactions for the alternating single and double bonds in the conjugated polymer backbone are explicitly described and Class II anharmonic functions are separately parameterized. Bond angle and dihedral interactions are also anharmonic and parameterized against DFT energy surfaces. The established force field is then used in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to calculate the thermal conductivity of single PA chains and PA crystals with different simulation domain lengths. It is found that the thermal conductivity values of both PA single chains and crystals are very high and are length-dependent. At 790 nm, their respective thermal conductivity values are ~480 Wm-1K-1 and ~320 Wm-1K-1, which are comparatively higher than those of polyethylene (PE), the most thermally conductive polymer fiber measured up-to-date.

Measurement of the single crystal elasticity matrix of polycrystalline materials

Many engineering metals are polycrystalline, as such the elasticity, crystalline orientation and grain distribution are cardinal factors in determining the physical properties of the material. The grain distribution can be measured using a number of different techniques and the orientation by a subset of these (electron back scatter diffraction, spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy). These measurements are routinely deployed in materials development. However, the elasticity remains a more difficult parameter to measure and is rarely measured because the existing techniques are slow and cumbersome, with most current techniques requiring the laborious growth or destructive isolation of single crystals. In this work we present a technique that can determine the elasticity, crystalline orientation and grain distribution in a fast and easy measurement. The technique utilises SRAS imaging to provide the raw measurement of single grain velocity surfaces, this is input to a novel inverse solver that mitigates the problem of the inversion being very ill-conditioned, by simultaneously solving for multiple uniquely orientated grains at once in a brute-force approach. This allows simultaneous determination of the elastic constants and crystallographic orientation. Furthermore, this technique has the potential to work on polycrystalline materials with minimal preparation and is capable of high accuracy, with the potential to realise errors in the determination of elastic constants values of less than 1 GPa (∼1). In this work we demonstrate good agreement with EBSD (<6∘ disagreement on average for all Euler angles) and determine elastic constants in line with existing single-crystal values, with an expected accuracy of better than 4 GPa. Experimental results are presented for pure α-Ti (hexagonal), Ni and the more exotic Ni-base alloy CMSX-4 (both cubic). With the proposed method, once the initial measurement has been made, subsequent measurements of the elasticity on the same sample can be made rapidly so that the elasticity can be measured in real time, opening the possibility that on-line measurement of elasticity can be used to monitor processes and enable high-throughput materials screening. The current instrumentation approach is applicable to materials with grain sizes down to 50 µm, with the possibility of improving this to grain sizes of ∼5 µm. Further modifications to instrumentation and acoustic velocity calculation will facilitate greater accuracy in the determination of elastic constants.