Patent ID: 7396404
Filing Date: 2008-07-08
Classification: C30B,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method of forging a generally cylindrical alkali halide single-crystal ingot of a crystal material having a face-centered lattice crystallographic structure, the ingot having an axis generally coinciding with the crystallographic direction, comprising: placing the ingot upon a lower platen of a press having parallel upper and lower platens each covered with a metal foil so that the ingot is between two parallel, planar, vertically extending barriers located between and perpendicular to said upper and lower platens; orienting the ingot so that its axis is vertical, the ingot is mid-way between the barriers, and one of the ingot's crystallographic planes is parallel to the barriers; heating the ingot to a temperature below the melting point of the alkali halide; compressing the ingot along its axis by moving at least one of the upper and lower platens toward the other platen and compressing the ingot therebetween; and maintaining the barriers in fixed relation to each other.