THE MACROMOSAIC STRUCTURE OF TIN SINGLE CRYSTALS

Abstract

Single crystals of high purity tin grown from the melt by a modified Bridgman method are shown to be partitioned into bands, or striations. A difference of orientation exists between the striations such that the lattice of one striation may be brought into coincidence with the lattice of its neighbor by a pure rotation about an axis parallel to the specimen axis. The properties of the striations have been shown to be dependent on both the rate of growth and the crystallographic orientation relative to the direction of heat flow. A tentative explanation of the origin of this effect is advanced in terms of the formation of edge type dislocations from the condensation of vacant lattice sites.