The measurement of the elastic constants of four alkali halides

Abstract

Discrepancies of up to 10% exist in the published values of the elastic constants of alkali halides and these are too large to be accounted for by individual experimental errors. Static, resonance and ultrasonic techniques have been applied to the determination of the elastic constants of LiF, NaF, NaCl and KCl at room temperature. All the specimens of each material were taken from the same parent single crystal which was grown by the Stockbarger method. Close agreement was obtained with the three methods, indicating that the discrepancies which do exist in the published data may be due to differences in the single crystals used by the various investigators.