Growth of Large Single Crystals of Hexagonal Selenium from the Melt at High Pressures

Abstract

The preparation of single crystals of hexagonal selenium at ordinary pressures is hampered by the very slow rate at which crystals can be grown from the melt under these conditions. As the equilibrium freezing temperature is increased by the application of pressure, single crystals can be grown at rates several orders of magnitude faster than under ordinary pressures. At 5 kbar pressure, single crystals were grown up to 1 cm in diameter by 10 cm long. X‐ray and optical studies established that the principal cleavage surfaces were along the {101̄0} and {101̄2} planes.