Origin of Crazing in Deuterated KDP Crystals

International audienceThe H/D isotopic exchange between DKDP crystals [K(H(1-x)Dx)2PO4] and their environment causes a surface damage known as crazing. By studying crystals, grown under perfectly stationary conditions, with a combination of analysis techniques (surface microtopography, micro-Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction topography, trace element analysis) we were able to determine the localization of the isotopic exchange, quantify it, and connect it with a preferential incorporation of impurity. This enables us to propose a direct correlation between the growth mechanisms governing the impurity incorporation, the increase of proton diffusion in the structure in that part of the crystal hence on the localization, and the magnitude of crazing upon aging of the DKDP crystals