Growth of photonic single crystals by floating zone method

Photonic single crystals have important industrial application as laser gain mediums or scintillation detectors. Nowadays, photonic single crystals are industrially grown exclusively by the Czochralski method, laboratory preparation is done by the micro-pulling-down method. Both of these methods are crucible methods and therefore have fundamental limitations, especially with regard to the high melting point of materials and the atmosphere in which crystals can grow. This thesis deals with testing of the preparation of Nd:YAG single crystals by the floating zone method in a halogen mirror and laser furnace, which are free of these limitations. The result of 17 performed growths is a tuned process of reproducible growth of high-quality Nd:YAG single crystals and significantly improved furnace instrumentation. We characterized the samples and verified that they are comparable in quality to industrially produced single crystals. The gained experience is already used for the growth of other compositions of optically active materials