Growth and optical activity of Ca3TaGa3Si2O14 (CTGS) single crystal

Single crystals of Ca3TaGa3Si2O14 (CTGS) with ordered Ca3Ga2Ge4O14 (CGG) structure were successfully grown from stoichiometric melts by conventional Czochralski technique along the X-axis. The as-grown crystal exhibits good optical quality and high optical transmittance in Z-direction. The specific rotation ρ in the Z-direction of a CTGS sample was determined by a TU-1901 spectrophotometer via measuring the optical transmission in dependence on the wavelength between crossed polarizers. The maximum specific rotation ρ of CTGS crystal was found to be 180° mm−1 at the wavelength of 301 nm.