Mercurous Halide Crystals Growth in theInternational Space Station (ISS)

We propose the growth of Acousto-Optic crystals such as Hg2Cl2, Hg2Br2, and Hg2I2. These crystals are very promising material and extremely suitable for the fabrication of Acousto-Optic devices such as Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter, Acousto-Optic Modulator, and Acousto-Optic Q-Switches, etc. The crystal growth process is divided into two stages: One is source material purification and the other is crystal growth. We will upgrade the purification furnace for high-purity level and grow 3 kinds of crystals using the high-purity source material. Consequently, we will produce novel 3 large diameter crystals. Also, we will simulate 3D software for getting the ideal thermal profile for boundary conditions of the ISS. Then, we can develop new crystal growth furnace for the micro-gravity condition. In addition, the development of the growth furnace model has to be considered for micro-gravity environment and the quality of the grown crystal grown in the ISS would be highly improved. The actual growth furnace will be built when the Phase II program is started.nbsp;