Fabrication of <111>c-oriented (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 Single Crystal by Solid-State Cyrstal Growth Method

Abstract

A <111>c-oriented (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 single crystal was grown by a solid-state crystal growth method. A faster growth rate in the <111>c direction was observed than in the <100>c direction. The slope of the unipolar strain curve was 127 pm/V, which was larger than that of a <110>c-oriented crystal (77 pm/V) but smaller than that of a <100>c-oriented crystal (211 pm/V). These results are useful for the fabrications of compositionally more complicated (K,Na)NbO3-based single crystals with larger piezoelectric properties.