Fabrication of <111>c-oriented (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 Single Crystal by Solid-State Cyrstal Growth Method

A <;111>
_c
-oriented (K
_0.5
Na
_0.5
)NbO
₃
single crystal was grown by a solid-state crystal growth method. A faster growth rate in the <;111>
_c
direction was observed than in the <;100>
_c
direction. The slope of the unipolar strain curve was 127 pm/V, which was larger than that of a <;110>
_c
-oriented crystal (77 pm/V) but smaller than that of a <;100>
_c
-oriented crystal (211 pm/V). These results are useful for the fabrications of compositionally more complicated (K,Na)NbO
₃
-based single crystals with larger piezoelectric properties.