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Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Optimization of Crystal Growth for Neutron Macromolecular Crystallography
Published on: March 13, 2021
Compositional and structural study of a (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 single crystal prepared by solid state crystal growth
Andreja Bencan1, Elena Tchernychova, Matjaz Godec
1Electronic Ceramics Department, Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova c. 38, Ljubljana, Slovenia. andreja.bencan@ijs.si
Abstract:
In this work we investigated the chemical composition and structure of (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 (KNN) single crystals grown by the solid state crystal growth method. The optical, scanning, and transmission electron microscopies were employed for the analysis of the chemical homogeneity and domain structure of the KNN crystal. No compositional inhomogeneities within experimental error were encountered in the KNN single crystals. The domain structure of the KNN single crystal, with a monoclinic unit cell, is composed of large 90 degrees domains of up to 100 microm width, which further consist of smaller 180 degrees domains with widths from 50 to 300 nm.
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