Ruby
(Al2O3:Cr) is an aluminum oxide (Al2O3) crystal doped with chromium. Herein, we report
the growth of a large bulky ruby crystal with well-developed n(113) faces via molybdenum trioxide flux evaporation. It
is difficult to investigate the growth and dissolution rate for each
crystal face during growth because a face with a slow growth rate
develops, resulting in difficulty of modulation of the crystal form.
In recent years, we developed a technique to grow ruby crystal films
epitaxially on sapphire (Al2O3) substrates.
In this study, for the first time, we quantified the relative differences
in the growth rate of a ruby crystal and the dissolution rate of a
sapphirecrystal for each crystal face. As a result, it was found that
(1) the dissolution and growth rates differed significantly for each
crystal face, and (2) no obvious positive correlation between the
two parameters was observed. Based on the observed growth and dissolution
rates, the bulky ruby crystal could be grown on a cylindrical sapphire
seed crystal cut into a specific shape. Our study provides new insights
into effectively modulating the crystal form, which is one of the
key points of our continued studies on the epitaxial growth of ruby
crystals.
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