Synthesis and Crystal Growth of Bi12[Ti(1-x)V0.8x]O20

This paper reports the investigation of solubility in the system (1-y)Bi12TiO20 (BTO):yBi12[V0.8 0.2]O20(BVO) by solid-state reaction synthesis and the crystal growth of vanadium doped Bi12TiO20 (BTO:V) by the Top Seeded Solution Growth (TSSG) technique. The structure of polycrystalline compounds was checked by X-ray powder diffraction method at room temperature. The system BTO:BVO presents a continuous solid solution in all range of compositions tested in synthesized powders. However, due effects of constitutional supercooling and structural phase transitions, there is a limit for vanadium concentration if we intend to grow good single crystals. The best growth results were obtained for liquid composition 10Bi2O3:(1-x)TiO2:x/2V2O5 with x = 0.10, pulling and rotational rates respectively of 0.10 mm/h and 30 rpm, and an axial temperature gradient above the melt of about 35°C/cm.