Growth of SrB4O7 Crystal Fibers with Near-Stoichiometric Composition by the Micro-Pulling-Down Method

SrB4O2 (SBO) has recently received much attention as a wavelength-conversion material which can operate into the deepest ultraviolet wavelengths (125 nm). The utilization of SBO for semiconductor lithography and laser ablation requires fully transparent crystals. Here, we show the growth of SBO crystal fibers with near-stoichiometric composition by the mu-pulling-down method. SrB2xO3x+1 ceramics sintered with various values of x were evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The melting point of the SBO ceramics was measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) as 1017 degrees C, and the heat of fusion was 63.3 J/g. Furthermore, we observed SBO crystal fibers grown with various x values by optical microscopy. As a result, even when the deviation from stoichiometric composition was +/- -0.1 mol % SrO (x = 2 +/- 0.004), SrB2O4/SrB6O10 appeared. Also, DSC curves of SBO ceramics exhibited only one melting peak. These results demonstrate that SBO shows no solid-solution width and that the stoichiometric composition is equal to the congruent composition. Furthermore, we succeeded in obtaining transparent SBO crystal fibers by growth with a stoichiometric composition. In contrast, since growth ridges including SrB2O4/SrB6O10 were formed on surfaces of the SBO single crystals, SBO crystal fibers grown with nonstoichiometric composition were opaque. We could explain the formation of growth ridges via compositional supercooling on rims.