ABOUT HTCS

HT Crystal Solutions LLC

Specialty Crystals for Optical Applications

Our Story

We provide nonlinear optical crystals, custom laser hosts, refractory oxides, and multifunctional crystals with gradient doping. We can also provide custom crystals and crystals with unusual dopants specified by customers.

HTCrystalSolutions is a US company formed in 2017 to commercialize technologies developed in laboratories at Clemson University in South Carolina. Our founders have hundreds of publications and numerous patents on crystal growth methods in supercritical fluids, as well as new crystals that are unique to hydrothermal growth. We developed a wide range of proprietary technology to handle reactive growth fluids at high temperatures and pressures.

Our company has unique autoclave designs, sealing mechanisms, thermal monitoring and online control systems. Our many years of experience in the field gives us a good understanding of the chemistry of hydrothermal crystal growth so we can quickly design new growth conditions, mineralizers and temperatures. This experience gives us the flexibility to respond to customer needs for new materials and custom doping. 

We are dedicated to the development of supercritical fluid technology for single crystal growth with a focus on optical applications. Most commercial single crystals are grown using melt based technologies (e.g. Czochralski pulling, top seeded solution growth). As demand for higher performance materials continuously increases, there is a need for alternative methods of crystal growth. This led us to develop the technology of growing specialty single crystals in hydrothermal and supercritical fluids. Our autoclave designs and experience make us one of the world leaders in hydrothermal crystal growth.

Crystal growth in supercritical fluids is a specialized technique that can confer a number of advantages. It is a relatively low temperature method (<700˚C), so it can be applied to solids that do not melt congruently. The crystals also grow in isothermal conditions, so they have minimal thermal strain and defects. Because the growth is performed in closed vessels there is considerable chemical flexibility. This leads to dopant homogeneity and close control of concentration, oxidation state and stoichiometry. This combination of flexibility and control allows us to grow new materials, as well as a wide range of crystals with custom doping and multiple functionalities.

HTCS World Headquarters in Clemson, SC!