SELECTION AND GROWTH OF NEW OPTO-ELECTRONIC CRYSTALS

THERE IS AN ONGOING NEED FOR NEW OPTO-ELECTRONIC MATERIALS TO ADVANCE THE STATE OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS OPTICAL IMAGE PROCESSING, OPTICAL COMPUTING AND PARAGMETRIC OSCILLATION. ALTHOUGH MANY MATERIALS HAVE BEEN EXAMINED, ONLY A FEW ARE OUTSTANDING CANDIDATES FOR THESE APPLICATIONS. THE MOST PROMINANT ARE AGGAS2, AGGASE2, CDGEAS AND ZNGEP2. OTHER COMPOUNDS WILL PROBABLY EMERGE IN THE FUTURE. SELECTION HAS BEEN BASED ON PROPERTIES THAT LEAD TO A LARGE "FIGURE OF MERIT" COMBINED WITH SUITABLE TRANSMISSION, LOW ABSORPTION, LOW SCATTERING, GOOD THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY, HIGH DAMAGE THRESHOLD, AND OTHER DESIRABLE PROPERTIES. HOWEVER, MUCH LESS THOUGH HAS BEEN GIVEN TO THE ESSENTIAL CONSIDERATION OF WHETHER THESE CAN BE GROWN IN SUFFICIENT SIZE, QUALITY, AND QUANTITY. THIS PROPOSAL IS AIMED AT RE-EXAMINING THE MATERIALS SELECTION PROBLEM EMPHASIZING CRYSTAL-GROWTH FEASIBILITY. A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF PAST EFFORTS SHOULD LEAD TO THE SELECTION OF SEVERAL "BEST CANDIDATE" POSSIBLY DUPLICATING SOME OF THE PRESENT CANDIDATES. WE ALSO PROPOSE TO CARRY OUT EXPERIMENTAL WORK ON SELECTED COMPOUNDS THAT WILLHOPEFULLY INDICATE THE FEASIBILITY OF PRODUCING LARGE, HIGH-QUALITY CRYSTALS THAT ARE CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE.