A new approach to β-Ga2O3 single crystal growth was studied, using the vertical Bridgman (VB) method in ambient air, while measuring the β-Ga2O3 melting temperature and investigating the effects of crucible composition and shape. β-Ga2O3 single crystals 25 mm in diameter were grown in platinum-rhodium alloy crucibles in ambient air, with no adhesion of the crystals to the crucible wall.Single crystal growth without a crystal seed was realized by (100) faceted growth with a growth direction perpendicular to the (100) faceted plane.

The characteristics of structural defects observed on (100) wafers in β-Ga2O3 single crystals grown by directional solidification in a vertical Bridgman furnace were studied in terms of crystal growth conditions. No high-dislocation-density regions near the wafer periphery were observed owing to the lack of adhesion between the as-grown crystal ingot surface and the crucible inner wall, and directional solidification growth in a crucible with a very low temperature gradient resulted in β-Ga2O3 single crystals with a low mean dislocation density of 2.3 × 103 cm−2. Line-shaped defects up to 150 µm long in the [010] direction were detected at a mean density of 0.5 × 102 cm−2, which decreased with decreasing growth rate. The line-shaped defect structure and formation mechanism were discussed.

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Cation-deficient perovskites exhibit complex local atomic arrangements which cannot be adequately described by average crystal structure models. By combining reciprocal-space electron diffraction analysis and direct observations of atom positions using state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscopy, we clarify the nature of the cation ordering within A-site-deficient perovskite single crystals of La (1Àx)/3 Li x NbO 3 (x ¼ 0 and x ¼ 0.04). Both materials are found to have complex modulated crystal structures with two types of A-cation ordering, namely a long-range layer ordering in alternate (001) p planes and a short-range (intra-domain) columnar ordering within La-rich (001) p layers. The columnar ordering (occupational modulation) produces modulated displacements of Nb and O atoms. It is also found that substitution of even a small amount of Li for La can affect significantly the columnar ordering, leading to a series of structural and microstructural changes that are likely to have a deleterious effect on the Li-ion conductivity of this material.