Development of technologically important single crystals, crystal-growth equipment and devices

Single crystals of technologically important materials are grown in the Crystal Technology Section of the Technical Physics Division, BARC. These crystals find applications as scintillators and dosimeters in nuclear radiation detection/measurements, as lasers host materials and in non-linear optical devices. Over the past three decades the expertise has been developed to establish crystal growth processes and design/fabricate crystal growth equipment. The talk would be a guided tour of the crystal technology laboratory at BARC and describe a few techniques to grow single crystals from melts, challenges in the growth of device-grade crystals and recent advances in the area of device development. Some of the specific examples that would be discussed in the talk include development of crystal growth equipment for the industrial production of alkali halide crystals including CsI(Tl), NaI(Tl), KBr, etc. and development of a very high sensitivity Li2B4O7 crystal based dosimeter for applications in the mixed field (gamma and neutron) personal/medical dosimetry.

About Dr. S.C.Gadkari:
Dr. Sanjay C. Gadkari received his Masters degree in Physics in 1980 from the Indore University (MP) securing the First Rank. He joined Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in 1981 and received his Ph.D. from the University of Mumbai. At present, he is ‘Outstanding Scientist’ and Head, Crystal Technology Section in the Technical Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. He is also a Professor in the Homi Bhabha National Institute. Over the last three decades he has been working on the development of several technologies for material synthesis, single crystals, thin film based devices and electronic and ultra-high vacuum instruments. He has been awarded ‘K. Suryanarain Rau Memorial Award–2001’, and ‘DAE Group Achievement Award-2007’ for his work on the development of thin films based sensors for toxic and hazardous gases and ‘Prof. P. Ramasamy Crystal Growth Award-2012’ for his work in the area of crystal growth technology. He has published over 200 research papers in journals, book chapters, BARC-reports, and conference proceedings. He is a life member of several professional societies including ‘The National Academy of Sciences, India’, ‘Materials Research Society of India’, ‘Institute of Smart Structure and Systems’, ‘Luminescence Society of India’ etc.