Gray Tin Single Crystals

Abstract

A method of growing gray tinsingle crystals from a liquid amalgam is presented together with a description of the apparatus and specification of the conditions of growth. Photographs of typical crystals ranging in size up to 2 cm and showing well‐developed crystallographic planes are included. Residual resistance measurements indicate a total impurity content of the order of 0.001%. The energy gap is the same as for transformed material but the low‐temperature mobilities are considerably higher. Evidence that the gray‐to‐white transformation is of the diffusionless type is presented.