Growth of AgGaS2 single crystal by descending crucible with rotation method and observation of properties

This note reports a new procedure of polycrystalline synthesis and a new technique of single crystal growth on AgGaS2, i.e. two-zone temperature oscillation vapor transporting and descending crucible with rotation. A single phase dense AgGaS2 polycrystalline ingot was synthesized, and a crack-free AgGaS2 single crystal with 15 mm in diameter and 30 mm in length was grown by the techniques mentioned above. Structure integrity of the crystal was studied by the X-ray diffraction technique. Six order X-ray spectra from the 011 face of the crystal were obtained, and an anomalous phenomenon was observed for the first time that intensity of the higher order diffraction peak is much stronger than that of the lower order diffraction peak. Etch-pits of the crystal were observed by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM).