Annealing and optical homogeneity of large ZnGeP_(2) single crystal

A high-quality ZnGeP_(2)(ZGP)single crystal with large size ofΦ30 mm×80 mm was grown by a modified vertical Bridgman method.ZGP wafers were annealed with ZGP polycrystalline powder for 300 h at 550,600 and 650℃,respectively.The as-grown and annealed crystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD)analysis,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR),IR microscope and energy-dispersive spectroscopy(EDS).Results show that the quality of all wafers is improved evidently after annealing and the optimum annealing temperature obtained is 600℃.The IR transmittance of the wafer measured by FTIR is up to 56.78%at wavelength of 2.0μm nearby and exceeds 59.00%in the wavelength range of 3.0-8.0μm.The deviations from stoichiometry decrease,and the homogeneity of the crystal is also improved after annealing.In this paper,scanning infrared map was proposed as a new nondestructive method to evaluate optical quality and homogeneity of crystal through comparing the IR transmittance with the three-dimensional IR spectral contour map.