Growth and study of triglycine sulfate (TGS) crystals in low-G for infrared detector applications

Experiments on growth of TGS crystals using (010) and (001) oriented disc shape seeds in the low gravity environment aboard Spacelab-3 are presented. The holographic interferograms reconstructed on the ground demonstrated diffusion limited growth. The morphology of the crystals grown was similar to that of crystals grown on earth, except the faces were not fully developed and planar. The device quality of these crytals is considered to be comparable with the best crystals grown on earth. Better infrared detector characteristics were obtained by doping TGS with Cs and L-alanine simultaneously on the ground. Crystals grown on (010) poled seeds show improved morphology and pyroelectric properties.